Her Story
by Horseface28
Summary: After getting injured, the ace of Seirin High School's field hockey team, Saiki Tsubasa, decides to end her field hockey career and turn toward Basketball. She soon becomes intrigued with The Generation of Miracles and tries to help Seirin's Basketball team prove their worth while encountering someone similar to herself.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:**  
>Okay so I'm gonna try to stick with this and make a plot out of this<br>More characters are going to be brought in, this is kind of just a prelude of sorts to get some background in there.

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><p>A whistle was blown and Saiki cursed silently to herself. It was the Championship game for the national field hockey tournament and a foul was just called against them while they were on defense. Seirin High School's field hockey team got ready for the oncoming defensive corner. She got in the goal with the goalie and defenders and waited for the ref to blow the whistle to start the play.<p>

The other team inserted the ball from the goal line to the top of the circle. Once the ball was hit her teammates flew out of the goal to stop the drive that was coming. Saiki shifted over to man the right post and saw the remaining mid fielders and forwards sprinting down from the 50 to come help. She watched the ball reach the top of the circle and saw as it got passed down when they realized they wouldn't be able to get the shot off quickly enough, Seirin's flyer had already caught up to them. When the other girl received the ball, she started to wind up for a shot. Saiki was tempted to shake her head that girl had no angle for the shot and there was a very slim chance of it actually going in. Though when you're down by 5 points you're going to want to take any shot you can get. Saiki only had a few seconds to react when the girl drove the ball. Her eyes went wide when she realized the angle was so bad it was more likely to hit her. She quickly flipped her stick to shield herself but she wasn't quick enough to fully block it.

Saiki was blinded by pain. The only thing that existed in that moment was searing pain on her left side and a dull ache in her head. She fell to the ground desperately trying to avoid her wounded side. It took a few seconds to remember where she was and what had happened. The shot connected with her ribs and sent her head back on the post. She couldn't be injured, not in this game, she was their ace. She pushed herself up trying to ignore the pain, but once she tried to take a step, she was back on the ground, this time landing a bit more on her left than she would have liked. This time there was more pain and Saiki realized she was done. She laid there clutching her side not processing anything. Not when her teammates and ref asked if she was okay, not when the coach and trainer asked her exactly where was she hurt, not even when they put her on a stretch her and loaded her into an ambulance. Everything was numb except for her ribs.

It was a few days later and Saiki was leaving the hospital. In the end, the shot broke her rib, fractured another rib and landed her with a concussion. The doctors wanted to make sure her broken rib wouldn't puncture a lung and that her concussion wasn't too bad. They had told her the concussion could last for a month possibly more and that she wouldn't be able to partake in physical activity for 4 months and to stay away from contact sports for 5 to 6th months to be sure. With this said she realized she was probably done with field hockey.

Maybe it's for the best. She remembered thinking to herself when they told her. Saiki had moved back to Japan after spending her 3 years of middle school in America. She specifically went to Seirin because of their field hockey team. Back in America, field hockey wasn't a big sport, beating people who were just learning to dribble and dodge wasn't difficult for her, who had been playing since before she could remember. She thought maybe it would prove to be more of a challenge in Japan, though Saiki was sadly mistaken. At that point, it was just as easy as it was in America. To her, games were just going through the motions. At least now she had an excuse to stop before the sport became too easy and the fun would be gone.

Saiki knew she should probably grab a bus home but she missed being able to move. Every breath and step sent a pain to her side but she tried to ignore it. There wasn't anything you could to for a broken rib, the only option she had was take painkillers.

She shoved her hands in the pockets of her new sweatshirt. The whole team had matching ones; they were for winning the national tournament. The team had come to visit her after the game and dropped off her own sweatshirt. They had won by one slim point. Saiki didn't tell them about her decision. She didn't know when she would. Maybe in a few days.

The smell of street food caught her nose and she couldn't resist the temptation. After crappy hospital food the smell of the street food became increasingly intoxicating. Saiki went up to the stand and ordered what he was selling. A magazine caught her eye and she picked it up. It was a basketball magazine. The cover was an action shot of five guys, all with different bright colored hair. She skimmed the cover and was shocked when they were only middle schoolers.

"Generation of miracles." She murmured to herself. "Tch, they must be cocky." She put the magazine down and paid for her food. So began her life as a non-athlete.

The teacher was droning on about the lesson and Saiki couldn't stop bouncing her leg. It had been a week since she left the hospital and ended her field hockey career. She still had teammates coming up to her trying to get her to rejoin the club. Her answers never changed.

The week of no physical activity was taking a toll on her. After school she would return to her house and lay down trying not to move her side. Saiki never realized how much field hockey took over her life. One day she even had time to write letters to her brothers who were still in America, playing basketball in colleges for scholarships. Though she left out her injury and ending her field hockey career.

As the teacher ended she put her head down trying to figure out what she could do to channel her excess energy out.

"I'm not joining the basketball team." Someone behind her called out. Saiki lifted her head and pushed back her ginger hair. Last time she had checked Seirin didn't even have a basketball team. When she turned around she saw someone with dyed blond hair and glasses storming off. It was one of her classmates, Hyuga. She never could get over how ridiculous he looked with that hair. According to her friend Riko he'd never done that until this year.

Saiki turned back around and tried to ignore the yelling behind her. Just as the fake blond exited it sounded as though someone else joined them. She rubbed her temple feeling one of her newly frequent headaches coming on (courtesy of the concussion). But then she realized. This is what she had been asking for, something to actually do. She turned around again and tried to cut in.

"Eh, uh do you need a manager?" She spoke up. She noticed everyone this time. There were two guys sitting with their backs to the wall, Kiyoshi and Izuki. Kiyoshi, the one furthest from her, looked huge even sitting down. Two more guys were standing nearby; she recognized the one who bore a striking resemblance to a cat as Koganei and his silent friend Mitobe. Saiki couldn't think back to a time where she actually heard him talk.

"We can have a cute manager!" Koganei yelled, catching her off guard.

"Sure!" Kiyoshi ignored Koganei's previous statement. "I'm Kiyoshi Teppei." He formally introduced himself and stuck his hand out. When she saw how big his hand was she was shocked. With those hands he could probably grip the basketball one handed.

"Saiki Tsubasa." She replied returning the handshake. The others followed suit introducing themselves.

"Now we just need a coach." Kiyoshi announced.

"You're still counting Hyuga aren't you?" Izuki asked but he never had an answer. Instead he turned to Saiki. "Wait, didn't you play field hockey?"

"I got an injury." She unconsciously reached for her broken rib. "I'm going crazy not doing anything with my time." Saiki looked up with a smile. Luckily no one asked why she didn't just stay with the field hockey team. Maybe they just passed it up to "Traumatic injury."

"Have you ever played?" Kiyoshi asked.

"I used to play with my brothers when I was a kid and in middle school. I was never really seri-" She was cut off when a huge had started slapping her on the back. She gritted her teeth trying to ignore the pain in her rib.

"Maybe when your injury heals you can play with us." Saiki couldn't believe how optimistic this guy ways. Did he really expect for her to even stand a chance on making a shot against someone as tall as he. Sure she was a decent height for girls basketball, standing at just under 5'10, but that was nothing for men's basketball.

"Ah, maybe." Saiki replied not wanting to be rude. Basketball was always her brothers thing. She had made a point to distance herself from her family's basketball dynasty by focusing more on field hockey. But now this was a new part of her life and she was going to figure out how to make it work.

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><p><strong>AN:  
><strong>So this is what happens when I decide not to pay attention in class...  
>I hope none of the field hockey was too confusing, I tried to keep it as simple as possible.<br>I'm gonna pair Saiki with someone but it might take awhile to get there... woopsie  
>Please leave reviews :D<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Nearly 4 months had passed and The Seirin High School Basketball team was actually also a force to be reckoned with. The team was made of Kiyoshi, Hyuga, Izuki, Koganei, Mitobe, and later on Tsuchida. Saiki watched from the side as Riko drilled the team to death making sure they were the best they could be. Saiki didn't actually do much as manager, she scouted other schools found games for them to play with Riko but other than that it was really just an excuse for her to be with the team and not sit at home.

Her injuries were starting to heal up as well. Her concussion was long gone and the fractured rib was better. The only thing that was left to heal was the broken rib. It was still a few more weeks until she could start running, something she had been itching to do since she left the hospital. For now during practices she would find a ball and just play around with it. Saiki hadn't touched a basketball since the end of her middle school season nearly a year ago. After she decided to go to Seirin for field hockey she dropped the other sports she did to stay in shape and focused entirely on field hockey.

The rubber felt familiar under her fingers and was almost comforting. It was like riding a bike again for the first time in forever. All of the old motions she adopted from her brothers as well as her own came back almost instantly.

"Oi, Saiki-kun." She remembered Hyuga calling out to her the first time she played around with the ball. His hair was now back to normal according to Riko, short and black. "I thought you said you weren't any good at basketball." Saiki dropped the ball she was playing with.

"Huh, well that's cause I don't have a 6 foot guy trying to defend me. It's different when there's someone actually on you."

"Well when you're completely cleared we'll have a 1 on 1." Kiyoshi walked over. Riko blew her whistle from the other side of the court calling them back to practice. Saiki shook her head. Kiyoshi never did drop the idea that she would play with them.

"After you heal I don't think having you play would be a problem." Riko walked over. "I mean your stats seem higher than most girls and you were in incredible condition from field hockey."

"Hmm?" Saiki was shocked. It seemed like Kiyoshi's optimism was spreading through the team. "Field hockey uses nearly all leg muscles and I hardly have arm muscles for playing with guys in basketball." She tried to wave it off with a laugh but Riko eyed her suspiciously. Even with her school uniform Riko could tell she was extremely above average for a girl. It hardly looked like she had been doing nothing for nearly 4 months. Everything about her build screamed basketball and so did the ease of her ball handling. But she knew better than to push the subject.

From then on, whenever Saiki was in the gym with the guys it was likely she had a basketball in hand, practicing any type of basics she could by herself with her injury. As much as she hated to admit it, it was comforting. It brought back memories of her brothers. She remembered back to having to figure out inventive ways to actually shoot on her brothers who towered over her. Her oldest brother, Yuzuki, would scold her for not using a proper form, but the other, Daisuke would laugh and encourage her "inventive" shots.

"How else is Tsuba supposed to score against us?!" He would exclaim only to get a disproving look from the elder. "It's not like a simple jump shot is going to do it." He'd laugh some more.

Saiki looked up at the basket and shook her head. She really couldn't escape the basketball.

Saiki could finally run and felt herself getting back in shape. Somehow Kiyoshi managed to sucker her into changing and doing the non-contact drills with them. As much as she tried there was no way that she could say no to him.

"Saiki-kun you really are crazy." Koganei spoke as she walked over to the end line with the team to join them in doing suicides.

"You try doing nothing for 4 months, it gets pretty boring fast." She answered standing in between him and Izuki. Riko blew the whistle and she flew. She wasn't the fastest of the group but she was able to hold her own.

There was a familiar ache in her legs after the end of the suicides and Saiki didn't realize how much she missed it. Pushing yourself to the brink and leaving everything you have on the field or court. She laughed as she remembered a few months ago when she thought she was going to stop being an athlete. It never really was an option. She pushed the stray pieces of hair that never made it into her bun out of her eyes and walked over to water. Right as she reached for her water something landed on her head and she couldn't see. Saiki pulled it off her head and saw it was a uniform.

"You're wearing it tomorrow at the prelim finals." Hyuga declared.

"But I'm not-"

"You're just on the injured list. Just shut up and wear it tomorrow you're a part of this team." Saiki looked up at the captain speechless. She felt a hand over head and realized it was Kiyoshi.

"Congratulations." He laughed.

Saiki walked in line with the rest of the team wearing the uniform and warm up suit. The Saiki basketball dynasty was officially being continued. She took in the sights around her as were her teammates. She heard Koganei say something about the gyms but a group of guys caught her attention exiting the nearer of the two gyms. She instantly recognized them and their brightly colored hair from the magazine she had seen after leaving the hospital. The legendary Generation of Miracles.

As they walked by she could hear them complaining about having possession of the ball but she couldn't process any of it. Their presence was huge and they seemed to command the air around them. Saiki was caught off guard as she recognized one of them.

"Akashi." She said under her breath in shock. It had been years since she had actually seen him. Their fathers were business partners for a time when they were younger. During dinners or get togethers her and her brothers were always left to be with him. They weren't extremely close but they did get along after having to spend so much time together.

She couldn't believe how different he seemed. He was always proper, but he would at least some sort of semblance of a smile. Now his face was impassive, looking straight to the future and the victories they held. Saiki was almost positive he didn't even notice her as he walked by. She finally decided that she was relieved that he didn't pay any attention to her in the end.

The finals for the preliminaries of the Inter-High began and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Saiki sat beside Riko, the two would make comments to each other throughout the game and watched it progress.

Seirin was able to keep a steady lead and not much seemed out of place. That was until the opposing team, Kirisaki Daichi put in Hanamiya. He was supposed to be on the same level as Kiyoshi apparently and everyone was on edge when he was subbed in. There was hardly a change of play but something in Saiki's gut told her things were about to go downhill in an extreme way.

And then it happened. Saiki watched and Kiyoshi went up for the rebound and fell to the ground after. She watched and his knee went in a way that it shouldn't and gave out beneath him. She recognized the situation instantly as he lay on the ground with his injured knee. It had just happened to her not too long ago. It could be a career ending injury. Saiki felt sick to her stomach. Of all the people to get injured like that, how could it be the ever so optimistic Kiyoshi Teppei. His nickname on the court, Iron Heart, suited him all too well and now he was being put on a stretcher and being taken out of the game.

Saiki saw Hyuga yelling at the guy named Hanamiya who only shrugged innocently. She put together the pieces in her head and became even more sick. How could someone play so underhanded like that?

"Let me go to the hospital with you." Saiki had run over to Kiyoshi as they took him away on the stretcher. It wasn't like she was playing anyway.

"I'll be fine, stay and cheer on Seirin." Was all Kiyoshi would say but she knew he wasn't fine. She knew that face, she had put it on for months, pretending her rib didn't hurt her. Saiki hesitated for a moment before turning back not wanting to leave him alone.

"Feel better." Was all she could muster up before returning to the bench.

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><p><strong>AN:  
><strong>okay so this was another intro chapter that kind of goes along with the first, I didn't want to post it all in one chapter cause I didn't know if it would be too long...

Sooo yeaa...please Review, I do appreciate constructive criticism.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N**: Alrighty here we go for chapter three. This chapter ended up being a lot longer than I originally thought...I hope you enjoyy

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or anything else from Kuroko No Basket.

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><p>Things went downhill after Kiyoshi was injured. Though he told us he'd be back for the Championship League he never was. His injury was a lot more severe than he let on, that's just what type of person he was. Saiki sat on the bench as she watched her teammates get destroyed without him in the next rounds. She tried to lift their spirits, but after seeing their scores tripled three games in a row it just didn't seem possible. It looked like Seirin finally hit their limit.<p>

But now here they were, the first day back at school after summer break trying to recruit the new incoming freshmen to join their club. Saiki called out with Koganei and Izuki to join their club and ignored the guys who asked her if she was the manager. After the Inter-High ended so badly Saiki gave up pretending like she didn't care for basketball. No matter how much she tried to repress it Seirin would bring it right back out. She trained just as hard as the guys doing the drills that she could do with them. Whenever she had free time she went out and ran until she felt her legs give out underneath her. Saiki practiced her dribbling until her fingers were numb and tried to improve her shooting. Kiyoshi was still out on his injury but this year she was cleared and she fully intended on playing for that big doofus.

"Join Basket-" She heard Koganei get cut off and she turned around to see what happened. What she didn't expect was to see a guy with spiky red hair towering over Koganei asking where basketball signups were. Saiki couldn't believe what she was seeing, there was no way he was a freshman. At first glance there was something off-putting about him. It wasn't just his large stature or weird split eyebrows. She couldn't exactly place her finger on it but he just felt different from the others. Maybe he could be powerful enough to take over Kiyoshi's hole.

"He's a first year?" Saiki found herself asking out loud when the redhead had grabbed Koganei and made his way to the Basketball Booth. She wondered what Riko and Hyuga, who were sitting at the booth, would think when they saw him.

"Yea he's got quite the towering stature." Izuki answered without missing the beat. Saiki only shook her head in return. It wasn't one of his best puns.

After the activities/club fair had ended everyone convened at the booth where the redhead, who she had just learned was called Kagami Taiga, just left. But Riko was looking at a different paper.

"Kuroko Testuya." Riko read from the paper. "Teiko Middle School?!" Everyone gathered around the paper and gasped. Riko hadn't even noticed the paper before Kagami left and it had been dropped off by one of the Generation of Miracles.

That was in no way possible.

Saiki remembered when they walked by before the finales of the Inter-High Prelims. Their presence was so strong, Riko couldn't have possibly just missed one of them dropping off a paper. Saiki found herself looking forward to the first day of tryouts even more. First Kagami and now an actual member of the Generation of Miracles.

She spent most of the day trying to think which one it could be, but she couldn't figure out. It obviously wasn't Akashi, it couldn't have been the blond one, he was too loud that one time. The one with blue hair had the strongest presence aside Akashi so there was no way it was him. That left the guys with green and purple hair. She would have put her money on the one with green hair since the purple haired one was so obnoxiously tall it would be hard to miss him. Still in her gut she knew it wasn't the green haired guy. But who else could it be?

Now Saiki was sprinting to the gym nearly late for tryouts. She had to find a janitor to open the girls basketball locker room. They seemed to have forgotten since she was the only one that actually used that locker room. She struggled to pull her hair back in a messy bun as she joined the group. Everyone was in similar basketball attire, Saiki had red shorts, a white t-shirt and red Nike's. Daisuke had sent them over from America claiming she should match his college to support him after she had finally told her brothers that she was back to playing basketball. She didn't want to know how much he spent on them.

"Sorry for being late, they forgot to unlock the locker room." Saiki told Riko as she pushed the few stray hairs out of her face and stood near Izuki and Koganei.

"Wait, she's actually a player." She heard one of the new first years whisper

"So the short one's the coach and she, plays?"

"Well getting a spot shouldn't be too hard then." Saiki smiled to herself. Let the underestimating begin. She knew it would come. During the Championship League she was listed as injured on the roster but that didn't stop teams from looking down on her as she sat on the bench.

"Don't crush them too hard." Hyuga walked over to her noticing what some of the first years were saying. After the Championship League, through the summer she worked to improve her fundamentals as best she could since it was one of the few things she could do. She focused more on dribbling and put some effort into her shooting, though shooting on guys that had a good two plus inches on her would be difficult. Getting low and dribbling past them would prove to be a lot easier. She couldn't wait to actually go head to head with someone.

Saiki replayed the events of the tryouts in her head as she walked home after tryouts back in her school uniform. She remembered being so shocked actually seeing Kagami after Riko had commanded all the first years to take off their shirts. She knew he had to be strong but jeez.

She couldn't believe he was actually going to this school. He wasn't recruited here, otherwise they would have known about him. But how did he not get recruited to another school. His stature reminded her of her brothers and they were immediately recruited. Yuzuki went to Rakuzan with intentions of winning while Daisuke turned down his offers to go to Touou Academy for the freedom of academics. She supposed maybe Kagami did the same thing as Daisuke, but Seirin didn't have much to offer like Touou.

Then she remembered finally seeing the mysterious member of the Generation of Miracles who had submitted a form earlier on. It was incredible, everyone completely looked over him. It was almost as if he had no presence. There was no way he could be one of the Generation of Miracles. Nothing stood out about him, he looked so painstakingly average he almost seemed below average. What shocked them more was when he said he actually played.

Saiki tried to push the thoughts away as she continued walking. The evening air felt so refreshing to her she decided to pass up the bus she would normally take. She stopped at a corner waiting to have the light and a strange pair walking across the street caught her eye. A short girl with pink hair in a school uniform was dragging along a much taller guy in a wrinkled uniform. He dragged behind with his head back reluctantly following.

It took a moment for Saiki to remember him. She had seen him once before on a basketball cover and another time passing by in person. He was a member of the Generation of Miracles there was no mistaking it. But something was so different now. Though maybe it was because he wasn't sporting a basketball uniform, but his posture and air around him seemed so wrong. It resembled nothing like the picture on the magazine.

He picked up his head for a few seconds and looked across the street as he walked. Saiki felt frozen in place as she made eye contact with him from across the street. She willed herself to look away but for some reason she couldn't.

People around her started walking past her and she broke eye contact realizing that they had the right away. When Saiki went to look back he was farther down the street back with his head hanging back and his posture slouched.

When Saiki got home she couldn't stop thinking about the guy. She was half tempted to google the Generation of Miracles to figure out his name but every time she reminded herself how weird that would be. Obviously he had to have school nearby, she just had to wait till they had a match possibly. There was just something about him that looked so familiar but she couldn't quite name it. Whatever it was wasn't there when she had seen him the first time.

Saiki groaned and decided she should just forget about it. There were more pressing matters, like the homework she had that was due tomorrow. She cursed herself for taking such difficult classes and ended up calling Riko to have her explain the math. Saiki cursed whoever it was who decided that Statistics would be a fun thing to do.

Getting dressed in the morning was a struggle. Everything in the morning was a struggle for Saiki seeing as she wasn't exactly a morning person. At least in the morning she didn't have to worry about waking anyone up from being too loud since she was the only one living in the apartment. Somehow she had managed to get her father to let her stay in Japan after he had to return to America for business. She just had to make sure she called her father every day.

Saiki adjusted her sports bra after putting her uniform on. She had a tendency to choose comfort over "fashion." Plus why waste the money on a $40 bra when she was just going to switch it from a sports bra for sports.

She looked over to the clock and wanted to groan. She really ought to start making her way to the bus stop down the street. Saiki grabbed her bag and walked out the door with an apple in hand trying to prepare herself for the day ahead of her.

No matter how much Saiki said she would, she could never actually slack off in class. Some days she wished she could just not care but once she started zoning out she would snap out of it and return to class. But today she was really on edge. Riko had told Hyuga the 2nd years would be scrimmaging the 1st years during practice and it ended up getting around to the rest of the 2nd years.

Saiki was inching to finally play a game and engage with other players. The rest of the teams infectious love of basketball had sparked her own love back and it was torture to just watch them after dribbling drills. She was also interested to see what Kagami could bring to the table and who knew, maybe Kuroko would surprise them. Even if he was apparently played with the Generation of Miracles, there wasn't much he could possibly do.

A rolled up ball of paper hit her in the head pulling her from her thoughts. She turned in the direction it had come from and she saw Riko giving her a face telling her that she'd better stay focused. Saiki returned with the smile mouthing sorry to the coach. Riko never seemed to leave the role of being a coach behind and Saiki never really minded.

"You know you technically aren't on the team." Riko told her at the end of class.

"What?" Saiki was caught off guard.

"You never announced your goals on the roof." Hyuga answered.

Ah crap she had completely forgotten about that.

"You can do it with the first years." Riko laughed patting her back and Saiki sighed. This team was insane sometimes.

They headed over toward the gym and today the girls locker room was actually opened. Saiki quickly switched her uniform for black basketball shorts and a white t-shirt, and then laced up her sneakers. The routine was so familiar she hardly had to think about it. She twisted her hair up into a bun, this one was a tad bit neater than the previous days, but it was still going to end up looking the same in the end after practice.

The 2nd years gathered together prepping for the scrimmage that the 1st years still didn't know was happening.

"Izuki, take point guard, Mitobe center, Koganei and Saiki take forwards, and I'll be shooting guard." Hyuga instructed. "We'll break down their defense and make sure they respect their seniors."

When they turned around Riko had just announced their scrimmage to the first years. Saiki held back a smile when the 1st years realized what was happening.

"I heard they got to the Championship League last year with only 1st years." One whispered. Kagami began to encourage them. Well it wasn't the standard happy encouraging, it fit more of his angry demeanor. Saiki decided he would be the first one she would beat.

The 1st years managed to get the ball on the tip-off after Kagami managed to jump higher than Mitobe. The 1st years returned the ball to Kagami in the center. He wasted no time jamming it in the basket, Mitobe never had a chance. She was momentarily frozen from watching the force behind the dunk. This was going to be an interesting game.

Hyuga called everyone back to attack. The second years used their speed to get the ball down the court back to Hyuga who answered Kagami's dunk with a confident three. As long as Kagami kept getting two pointers they could answer with a three.

The ball found its way back to Kagami and Saiki could only react by shifting over to help Mitobe, but there wasn't much use. His jumps were not human. They obviously needed a new strategy.

"Keep Kagami from getting the ball." Hyuga told them before returning to offense. "Double team him, if that doesn't work, triple."

When they got back the 1st years were already set on defense, they lacked the advantage of the fast break. Saiki cut for the ball and got it from Izuki. She spun around a shocked 1st year, Kuroko she thought, and Kagami was in front of her like a wall. Saiki didn't miss a beat, she crossed over going lower than Kagami and managed to get passed him while he was shocked. Their defense gave Saiki little need to really think about her next moves. This one time she would have the element of surprise since they had never seen her really play before. Saiki began to shoot but felt Kagami behind her, she switched to a fake, drawing Kagami in to jump. Since her fake was so hurried she shot the ball while she was unbalanced and managed to fall over on the side.

Saiki pushed herself off the ground and sprinted to defense before the 1st years could counter. The 2nd years had the lead again by a few slim points and there was no doubt they were going to get the ball to Kagami to try and claim the lead for their own.

The defense was soon able to shut down the 1st years by shutting down Kagami. The only way they could do that was to constantly have at least two people on him at all time. From there the 1st years began to crumble.

The 2nd years dominated since then. Saiki would successfully break down the 1st year defense, drawing in defenders as she dribbled around them to the paint, and then pass it back out to anyone who could get a quick shot off. Kagami wasn't letting her get any more shots off, but she was fine with the assists. As long as she drew their most powerful player, it left the rest of the team opened.

If Kagami was the strongest link in the 1st years, Kuroko seemed to be the weakest. Whenever he touched the ball, his defender, Saiki, was sure to steal it from him. It wasn't even close to a challenge. But yet she almost nearly forgot about him when he wasn't actually touching the ball. She found herself a few times realizing she didn't know who she was marking and frantically looked around for a mark.

Hyuga had just gotten their 31st point and the 1st years seemed ready to give up. Well everyone but Kagami who had grabbed fellow 1st year, Furihata she thought, and scolded him for wanting to give up with the rest of the 1st years. It didn't take long for him and Kuroko to end up fighting.

"Tcch it's a shame he's so hot-headed." Saiki said under her breath. Kagami had to be restrained from attacking Kuroko by the rest of the 1st years. He looked as though he had so much potential, but being a hot head in sports could be good and bad.

Once the 1st years were ready to resume and Kuroko and Kagami were done they started again. Saiki watched as Fukada passed the ball, but from there she was lost. It started from mid court and gotten to Furihata who was wide open under the basket. But how? Izuki should have been able to get the ball if it went like it should have, however Izuki was just as confused as she was.

"How did that pass get through?" Hyuga vocalized what everyone was thinking. It was just logic, there was no way that pass should have gone through.

But it did?

The 1st years started to ride the wave that came with that special pass. Saiki found herself overwhelmed seeing these magical passes keep occurring. She just couldn't figure out how. Until she realized the person she had kept forgetting about in the first half.

No way. She thought to herself. Saiki didn't know how exactly, but Kuroko was affecting these passes. He had to have been, though she still couldn't figure out how. No matter how hard she tried to stay on him it was impossible, she just kept forgetting about him.

With this the 1st years were able to close the 16-point gap that the 2nd years had previously created. They had gone so far as to close it to a 1 point different.

Saiki kept herself from cursing as Kuroko stole the ball and made his way to the opposite basket. If he made this they would win. Everyone watched as he went for the layup, and missed it. Unfortunately for the 2nd years Kagami followed close behind to dunk the ball in after Kuroko's miss.

Everyone just stood in shock. Saiki still couldn't believe what she saw. Or rather what she didn't witness. Even if Kuroko was absolutely crap at the basics of basketball, he was still able to aid his team and help lead them to a win.

Saiki broke the silence by starting to laugh.

"Oi, Saiki what's with you?" Hyuga asked.

"Eh? Oh I just remembered how fun basketball really is when you play." Saiki had been smiling the throughout the game. This year really was going to be interesting.

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><p><strong>AN:  
><strong>Gah I feel like every chapter keeps serving as some sort of introduction I don't know asdfghjkl;

But I did manage to squeeze some Aomine in there which is where I want this story to eventually get to...

So yeeeaa please leave a review and thanks for reading my crappy little inserty OC story. I really do appreciate everyone that reads this if anyone is reading this.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Okay so this ended up being a lot more longer than I expected and a lot more inserty than I would have liked...Oh well here it goes

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><p>Saiki looked around at the school she had previously only seen in pictures, Kaijo Private High School. When she was deciding what school to come to Kaijo was her number 1 for a while, all their sports were nationally ranked and the school it's self was pretty good. But something about Seirin caught her eye and she switched almost last minute.<p>

Now Saiki was an official member of the Seirin basketball team. For that to happen she had to repeat what the second years did the previous year to convince Riko to be their coach. Stand on the roof before morning announcements and yell her name class and goal for being on the team. She supposed most people thought she was trying to make a feminist statement for being a girl on a guy's basketball team, but it was never really that for her. For Saiki she just wanted to have fun playing basketball and help her team become number 1 in Japan, which is the reason she used after Kagami jumped on the railing to call out his reason. She still couldn't decide if he was brave for standing on the railing or just an idiot.

Here Saiki was, with the rest of her team on their way to their first (practice) game. Her heart was pounding with excitement, finally after sitting on the bench last year and the love of the sport coming back to her she would get to let it all out on the court in a game. Even if she was only on for a few moments it would be worth it.

Previously they got a visit from Kaijou's new ace, a member of the Generation of Miracles. Kuroko referred to him as 'Kise-kun.' Apparently he was a model too, which explained why all the girls were flocking around him. She had to admit it, he was rather attractive but he seemed too full of himself. No, he was too full of himself. .

Kise had challenged Kagami to a one on one and it served as a sort of preview for the upcoming scrimmage. It was the first time Saiki had seen any of the five Generation of Miracles starters play. Someone on the team brought up that he had only started playing his second year of middle school and Kuroko confirmed it. It wasn't that far-fetched when she saw him play. It wasn't that he was bad, he was far from it. It was the speed that he could copy and learn moves. Once Kagami pulled a move Kise could take the move and use it for himself, it really was quite spectacular.

"Hey, guys!" A voice pulled her out of her thoughts and she looked up to see Kise running over to the team like, well, like a model. She couldn't really picture him getting down and dirty in a game, he seemed more feminine than she did at the time. But she had seen him play Kagami and knew that he had the ability crush them.

"This place is big, so I thought I'd come get you." He offered the team, but once he saw Kuroko he moved over toward him. "Kurokocchi, ever since you turned down my invitation to join us I've been crying into my pillow every night." He acted dramatically.

"What's wrong with him?" Hyuga questioned aloud.

"Just show us the way." Kagami demanded. He looked horrible from his lack of sleep.

"Not even a girl has turned me down before." Kise ignored them and kept talking to his former teammate.

"You've got to be kidding me." Saiki said shaking her head. Kagami was getting butt hurt about being ignored, but what did he expect from this guy.

"Could you please stop being so sarcastic?" Was all Kuroko responded with.

"I'm interested to know more about the guy who's making Kurokocchi say those things." Kise turned his direction toward Kagami and everything about his demeanor changed. He was becoming more intense. "I don't mind much being called the Generation of Miracles, but I can't ignore such an obvious challenge. I'm not mature enough to let it slide. Sorry but I'm going to crush you with everything I have."

"Sounds good." Kagami laughed. That was only one of the reasons Saiki wanted to crush Kaijo.

The next reason came from when they actually reached the gym. Their sports facilities really were amazing for high school. That was before they saw the thin curtain splitting the gym in two.

"We're playing on half a court?" Riko questioned.

"You've got to be kidding me." This was soon becoming Saiki's phrase of the day. It really was ridiculous, one-half would be used for the game and the other half was being used for a practice.

"You're here. Welcome." A larger man stopped and noticed them. "I'm Coach Takeuchi." He introduced himself. "Which one of you is the coach?"

"That's me." Riko smiled.

"You? You're not the manager?" This was a regular occurrence for the team, but Saiki didn't think Riko would ever get used to it.

"I'm Coach Aida Riko. We look forward to playing with you today." Riko bowed to the coach. "So, um, what is this." She was referring to the split court.

"Exactly what it looks like. We've only made simple arrangements for today's game. There won't be enough to learn from this game to make it worth watching for the guys sitting out. We're having the other players practice as usual so we don't waste time. Despite the arrangements you'll be playing our regulars. I hope you won't let us triple your score."

Saiki thought Riko was going to kill someone, she herself felt like killing someone. To be disrespected like that. And that was the second reason Kaijou was going down.

"They're treating this like a sideshow to their practice." Kagami was fired up as the rest of the team.

They turned and saw the Kaijo coach telling Kise he wouldn't be playing. According to the coach it wouldn't even be considered a game if he played. And that was the third strike for Kaijo.

"I'm sorry. Seriously sorry. I'll be on the bench." Kise ran over when he saw the rest of Seirin notice what just happened. "If you give his guys a beating I'm sure he'll put me in." He was pointing at the other starters. "Besides, if you can't force him to put me in, you shouldn't go around saying you'll beat the Generation of Miracles." This was a direct jab at Kagami and now they had just dug their own grave.

Coach Takeuchi called over to Kise to show the team to the locker room, Kuroko wouldn't let him. The tone was set for the game. They weren't going to let them look at them as if they were a joke.

Seirin found their way to the locker room and settled in. The excitement in Saiki was mixing with anger only making it grow. They were getting so close to the tip off.

"First game." Hyuga put his hand on her shoulder standing beside her as she replaced her sneakers making sure they were just right.

"Against a team that's looking down on us." She smiled. "I can't wait for us to prove them wrong."

"That's the spirit.

They returned to the gym and after warming up the game was ready to start. Riko announced the starting lineup as Hyuga, Izuki, Kagami, Kuroko, and Mitobe. None of this was a surprise to Saiki. Putting out her and Kuroko wouldn't be smart. They still needed to have height on the court, something she and Kuroko lacked compared to other forwards

Saiki took her spot next to Riko on the bench and watched the game begin. Riko started to try to analyze the Kaijo players on the court as best she could with their shirts on.

"Their stats are way higher than average." She said aloud. Saiki looked over to her coach. They've had bad odds before and overcame them. They still had a chance to pull this off. Plus they had Kagami and Kuroko.

The game was barely started when Kagami came down from a dunk with the rim still in his hand. No one moved. None of that was normal. If that didn't get Kise on the court, she didn't know what would. Riko ran over to the coach and apologized for the rim. Well it did have rusty bolts.

The game was stopped as they set up for a full court game, seeing as Kagami just broke the basket. Now the game was really going to start. When the court was set the teams walked back on the court, Kise joining with the rest of the Kaijou starters. The Kaijou players who were practicing before now stood along the balcony on the second floor, interested in the game that was about to unfold. So did hoard of Kise fan girls. _You've got to be kidding me_. She thought to herself wishing for some earmuffs to drown out the yelling.

"Now the game is really starting." Saiki said out loud to no one in particular. And boy did the game start. It was only the 1st quarter and they were playing as though there were only 5 minutes left. Both teams were constantly switching from offense to defense with little slowing down.

"Their pace is insane." Riko worried. It would be impossible for Seirin to keep up that pace. They didn't some way to slow it down. She went over to the timekeepers requesting a time out. The pace needed to be controlled and slowed. Riko explained it as the offenses being so strong that they blew through the defense giving them no chance. Kagami would score and Kise could just copy the same move and get the basket back.

Kise wasn't Kaijo's only strength. The whole team was strong. Their point guard knew what plays to call and when to do them. The rest of the players could all hold their own on the team, there was a reason they were nationally ranked.

The ball went out of bounds and Seirin got their time out giving the players their much-needed break. Saiki tossed Izuki his water bottle that was next to her. She heard the yelling coming from Kaijou's coach.

"How many points are you going to give up?" Serves them right for looking down on them in the beginning. But they had to focus on their problems, Kise being their number one. When Hyuga suggested putting someone else on Kise as well Kagami was offended.

"There is a way." Kuroko spoke up. "They have a weakness."

"You should've spoken up sooner." The captain turned to Kuroko on his left.

"No to be honest I'm not even sure you could call it a weakness. Either way still I'm sorry. Because of the unexpectedly high paced play, my effectiveness is already wearing off."

"What?!"

"The more I use it, the less effective it becomes." Kuroko put it simply.

"Why didn't you tell us something so important sooner?!" Riko yelled at the first year and proceeded to put him in a headlock and the rest of the team just stood by. Something told Saiki if Riko was a guy none of this would be acceptable.

"I'm sorry. You didn't ask." He said frantically.

"Do you not say anything unless you're asked?" The time out ended shortly after. The last thing Riko left them with was telling them to go into a zone defense. Instead of sticking with one player and just defending them, they would now protect their own 'zone' so to speak.

The zone defense seemed much more effective than the man-to-man when it came to stopping Kise in the inside, but Kaijou still had a strong outside. When Kise couldn't make a shot he passed it back to their point guard who shot an easy three.

"When we need to sub Kuroko, you'll go in for him." Riko told her and Saiki's heart skipped a beat. She'd actually be going in eventually. This was it.

Kaijo started picking up on Kuroko more though, intercepting the passes meant to go to him. The gap was growing as well. Things weren't going too well, and then Kagami started laughing in the middle of the court.

"Last time he laughed like that was when Kise played him at practice." Saiki pointed out. It was after he acknowledged Kise as being a strong player. And then Kagami was able to figure out Kise's weakness.

"This guy is your weakness." Kagami put his hand on Kuroko's head and it made sense. Kise couldn't copy Kuroko. His own presence was too strong, being invisible like Kuroko was impossible for him.

During the first quarter break they discussed how to use Kagami and Kuroko to beat Kise. This time they wouldn't just rely on Kagami, this time Kuroko and Kagami would have to coordinate together to get around Kise and Kaijou's defense. They would make sure their outside was scoring as well. They were going on the counter attack.

"Do you really think Kagami and Kuroko can do it." Saiki turned to Riko. Right as she said that Kagami attempted to pass the ball to Kuroko who wasn't ready, resulting in them losing the ball.

"Well, we'll probably just barely make it." She admitted. It was a new strategy, they still had to get out the kinks. But if they could polish it, it could become Seirin's new weapons. Saiki was smiling, Kuroko wasn't the strongest player on the court, but he was still able to make things happen.

And then Kuroko got backhanded by Kise. As he was turning around he must have forgotten about the invisible guy and managed to catch him with his hand, resulting in a nasty cut on his head. Everyone on the bench stood up and Riko ran over to him while Saiki reached for the first aid kit. With the way he was acting it was unlikely he'd be able to go back in.

"Kuroko-kun can't play anymore." Riko announced. "We'll have to send Saiki and make do with what we got and use the second years as our offensive force. It's only the second quarter but we can't let them get too far ahead of us." She turned to Hyuga. "I know it's early, but it's game time, Hyuga-kun." And then to Kagami. "Kise-kun will just copy you, so don't play offense, Kagami-kun. Focus on defending and do everything you can to stop Kise-kun from scoring."

"Are you sure that will work?" Kagami questioned the coach.

"It'll be fine. Have some faith." Hyuga responded, but Kagami tried to refute. "I said it'll be fine dumbass. Listen to your seniors once in a while, or I'll kill you." It was official, Hyuga's clutch personality was coming out. When it was crunch time, Hyuga turned into a different person. She had seen it come out plenty of times before and wasn't surprised by the sudden change.

The ref blew the whistle calling the players back on the court. Saiki pulled off her warm up shirt revealing her number 1 jersey, which still managed to be huge on her smaller frame. This was it, she had waited nearly a year to finally be able to play after her field hockey injury. She could hear the players from Kaijou and spectators on the second floor pointing her out.

"They're already down as it is and they're sending a girl on the court?"

"I thought they were doing good and then they do this."

"She's going to get slaughtered."

"I wonder if she's got a nice rack."

Saiki did everything she could to block them out. None of what they said mattered. She knew they were all wrong. The only thing that mattered now was playing basketball.

It was weird to finally be playing a game with them. After spending a year watching most of them on the sideline she felt like she knew exactly what they were going to do, giving her the advantage of already clicking with the team on the court, even though it was her first time playing with them.

They ran down on offense and Izuki passed the ball to her. She might as well use her advantage while she had it. The other team didn't expect her to be good. They also didn't expect her to take a hard unflinching drive to the basket. When she got passed her defender she saw two more being drawn into her and instantly passed the ball out to Hyuga for him to make a three knowing exactly where he would go.

Saiki repeated the attack a few more times on offense, always using the simplest techniques to get passed the defenders. Her main weapon was her decent change of speed. It was a very important part of field hockey, sure maybe you could pull the ball around a defender but if you didn't change your speed they were right there after you pulled. Not to mention she had a ton of stamina. Even after year her body was still conditioned as a field hockey player, the main difference was the arm muscle that grew since she started playing again.

Her strong thigh muscles allowed her to get low around the defenders as well. She usually didn't go in for the shots so being small didn't matter. As long as she could get low and draw the defenders in to the pain so Hyuga could get a clean shot she was doing her job.

Kaijo had to resort to putting Kise on her for one of her drives and Saiki wanted so bad to drive. She would have to back down a bit now with Kise there. She rather he didn't acquire her drives.

"Awh come on don't turn me down." He tried to goad her on. Saiki shook her head and started for the drive. There wasn't a way that she could pull this off and make a shot or pass the ball out. The only thing she could do in this situation was hopefully draw a foul. Playing as a small forward, taking drives down the baseline and drawing fouls was one of their jobs. Saiki drove down the baseline hoping she would be able to draw contact from Kise.

When she went for the shot she leaned back into a fade-away but kept leaning back till Kise lost his own balance and she drew the foul. She shot the ball and was shocked when that actually went in. Kise's face was filled with shock as well, as though he had seen the shot before. Saiki realized what she just did and prayed that by some chance Kise wouldn't be able to copy that move.

She hadn't actually used that shot in years. When she was young she would use it against her brothers to true and give her a better angle above their heads. It didn't always go in, but it usually got her two free throws from the foul line, which was almost just as good. Now she had the opportunity to make it a 3-point play.

Saiki made the shot at the foul line with ease. It was one of the fundamentals she had while she was out. If she missed that shot but made the other she would have been embarrassed.

"Wow she's good." She heard one of the players mutter.

"I'd say she's almost better than that Kagami." Another said. She looked over to Kagami and saw his blood boiling and smiled, that's just what they needed on defense, an angry Kagami.

They were wrong though, Kagami was probably most definitely better than Saiki. But since they were using Kagami as a mainly defensive power now, her offense looked better than his.

Their offensive pushes were not enough. They were still trailing behind Kaijou, with Kuroko being out of commission. On defense she tried to do as much as she could to keep them out of her zone but it was hard. Defense is what she was most rusty at seeing as she just started contact a few weeks ago. She made a mental note to work on clean steals now that she could practice with people.

Saiki looked over to the sideline, saw Kuroko standing up, and smiled. Kuroko was coming back on the court. Riko subbed Kuroko in for her and she returned to the very familiar bench.

"Good job Saiki-san!" the others congratulated her. She smiled in return and reached for her water still riding the euphoria from the game.

Saiki spent the rest of the game watching as Seirin took control of the game with Kagami and Kuroko. They had finally closed the gap that existed most of the game.

"They can do it, they're tied!" Saiki stood up off the bench with the rest of the game. Sitting wasn't really an option anymore, not after her heart was still racing and now that Kise had picked up the intensity of his play.

Saiki wanted to vomit from the stress of the game. It was tied with 10 seconds to go. This team wouldn't survive in over time, they were hardly holding on after the intense play in the beginning. She felt her heart go in her throat when Kuroko and Kagami went for the alley oop buzzer beater, this was it, if they pulled this off, if Kagami could dunk over Kise, they would win.

And Kise got dunked on.

Saiki and everyone else in the gym let their breath out when the basket fell through the net. The team that Kaijou expected to walk all over and play half court, had just beaten them. Saiki ran out on the court with the rest of the team that was on the bench. She still couldn't believe it

"Well this makes for a good first game." Saiki laughed. Hopefully this was a sign for a good season.

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><p><strong>AN:** So there's the Kaijou Seirin match. I'm not sure if I'm going to approach the other matches in a similar extremely inserty fashion but yea...

I think I'm finally finding where I want to go with this in the next chapter which I'm working on at the moment... It only took 4 chapters to get there oops.

Thank you for reading and please review so I know that people actually like/read this thing :D


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** It took 5 flipping chapters but I finally think I've figured out where I want to go with this story yippie. I hope you enjoy!

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><p>Saturday practice had just ended and Saiki still had extra energy so she decided to go for a run. Playing basketball with the others affected her in the best way. Before, when she was playing field hockey she found herself almost slipping into a depressed state, it was a chore, it was almost as if she was playing because she had to and it never required as much effort as it should have. Sitting on the sideline with her new teammates, she felt like she was a part of a family and itched to do something. Practicing dribbling drills on the court doing what she could while still on the injury list she was filled with anticipation. Now she had an outlet for these emotions and energy.<p>

The team was actually doing well and was climbing up the brackets of the inter-high preliminaries. She continued her role as Kuroko's sub though there were a few games they left Kuroko on the bench and she played instead. Saiki would use her drive and like a magnet attract the defenders into her giving her teammates more open shots.

She still worked on improving her shots, but they were still nowhere near what they once were. They were a lot more structured since she was worried about looking like an idiot if she just threw the ball at the rim and it didn't go in. Baskets were necessary for Saiki's role as a magnet to work. If the other team didn't think she was a threat to the basket there wouldn't be need for the defenders to swarm her. Once she got her shots back her possibilities would be endless, but she still had a long way to go.

Saiki focused on her breathing and music, trying to match her steps with the beat of the song. No one seemed to be around giving Saiki the ability to zone out and get lost her running. Nothing cleared her mind more.

She rounded the corner and this whole mess could have been avoided if she wasn't so focused on her pacing and music. She probably would have been able to hear the high-pitched voice yelling "Aomine-kun" but no. She rounds the corner, runs into what feels like a brick wall, spins, and lands on her knees on the sidewalk. _Ah shit_. She thinks to herself knowing the skin on her knees was now probably destroyed.

"Aomine-kun, what did you do!?" Now that her earphones are out Saiki could hear the shrill voice. She looked up taking in her surroundings. She saw what she ran into, which was not a brick wall. She had run into a guy who was now on his butt. Her eyes widened as she realized it was the blue haired member of the Generation of Miracles. Above him was a girl with long pink hair. Her arms were crossed over her chest and was looking down on the bluenette with concern.

"It's not his fault." Saiki spoke up, still on her knees. "I wasn't paying attention and I turned the corner too fast." She tried to laugh it off and take the blame to avoid an awkward situation.

"See Satsuki," He spoke from the ground. Saiki was caught off by the lack of emotion in his voice. "Not everything is my fault." He started pushing himself off the ground. Saiki started pushing herself up when she fell forward and had to use her hands to get up. Her knees stung and she kept back a wince. There wasn't any need for them to feel bad. That was before she saw her knees.

"Your knees!" The pink hair girl exclaimed.

"I've gotten worse turf burn before." Saiki tried to wave it off until she actually looked down. Her knees had pieces of gravel sticking to them and started bleeding, some spots more heavily than others. Not to mention the stinging thing. Yea this was a bit worse than turf burn.

"Come with us inside I'll grab the first aid kit from our club room!" The girl offered pointing in the direction of the school they were in front of, Touou Academy. "I'll apologize for Aomine-kun. He doesn't really know when he's being rude. You can call me Momoi." Momoi stuck her hand out.

"Saiki." She smiled shaking the other girls hand. "I'll be fine! I don't want to inconvenience you guys." Touou Academy was actually closer to her apartment than Seirin; it had been the same apartment Daisuke had stayed in when he went to school so naturally it would be closer to his school.

Proving she could still walk she took a step but struggled to keep her legs from wobbling. The stinging really was a bitch.

"See I'm fine." She heard Aomine sigh.

"Just go in and clean your knees, it's the only way she'll stop." There was no hint in his voice that he actually cared. He only seemed bothered by the whole ordeal. He scratched his head. "Oh yea, sorry for being in the way." Aomine looked like he could actually care less.

Saiki had to make sure to keep the surprise off her face. She went from meeting Kise, who almost had too much emotion to his polar opposite Aomine, who seemed to have no emotions, just boredom.

"Uhm, okay." Saiki finally agreed.

"Here I'll take you to the basketball club room." Momoi grabbed the taller girls arm and dragged her forward. Momoi was stronger than she looked. "You played field hockey, right?" She tried to strike a conversation while they walked.

"I used to," Saiki started. "Wait how did you-"

"Aomine-kun and I were at the finals last year." Momoi smiled. "I knew someone on the other team, but we were impressed by your playing."

"Eh, we were?" Aomine clearly wasn't following.

"She was Seirin's ace, number 8, the midfielder." Saiki was shocked that she actually knew all of this. No she was more weirded out.

"Oh the one who got hit by the ball?" He was very blunt about it. "Yea that baseball goal was good." She knew exactly which one he was talking about. She didn't have to think what she was doing when it happened. There was no reason for her to doubt her movements, there was only complete confidence.

She ran down the flicking the ball up on her stick and bouncing it as she entered the circle. The other teams goalie came out to rush her to try to break her focus but that was the goalies own mistake. As the goalie got close she flicked the ball over the goalie, let it bounce once and slammed it into the goal before she completely lost the angle. It was one of her more creative shot, though not the most difficult after getting passed the goalie.

They cut through the empty gym and Saiki took in where one of her brothers used to practice every day. It was nothing like Kaijou's premier gym but it was still a good one. She noticed one of the rims were broken off and immediately looked over to Aomine who was yawning. There's no way. The bolts didn't even look rusty, if it was him, he must have just ripped it right off the backboard. That was the power of the Generation of Miracles.

"You don't still play do you?" Momoi asked, though something told Saiki that she knew the answer.

"Huh? Oh no." Saiki tried to stop thinking about the backboard. "It got-" She was about to say it got too boring but held back. Did she really think that? "I don't think I could have gone out and played the same after getting hit by the ball like that." She repeated the lie she had kept telling herself.

Momoi took out a key from her pocket and unlocked the club door. It didn't look much different from their own in Seirin. But what caught her eye was the glass case in the corner. She found herself walking over to it as a few pictures caught her eye.

"You must still play a sport if you were running like that." Momoi was rummaging for the first aid kit.

"Basketball." She said as she noticed pictures with her brother in the number 5 jersey smiling with other teammates she presumed. There were plaques underneath them. Saiki Daisuke - Highest Scorer, Saiki Daisuke - Most Assists, Saiki Daisuke - MVP. He had never told her about these, but then again they must have been implied if he had gotten a full scholarship to play in college. "I play basketball now."

She felt a tall presence behind her and she flinched turning around.

"Saiki." Aomine muttered reading the plaques as if it was his first time as well.

"You play on Seirin's team?" Momoi brought over the supplies. "Oh Saiki," She said noticing the name. "Are you related?"

"Yea, he's my older brother." She said finally looking away from the glass case.

"I wasn't here when he played but I heard good things about him from the Senpais." Momoi sat Saiki down and started cleaning her knees. She tried not to flinch as the cleaner touched her knees but that was impossible. "So he went to college in America to play?"

"Yea, Ohio State." Saiki answered even though the name meant nothing to the other two.

"You must be good too." Momoi started to wrap the bandage around one of her knees. "To have a brother playing in America and to be playing with guys." Saiki didn't remember specifically saying that she played with the guys. Seirin didn't have a girls team, but would this girl know that?

"Tch." Aomine made a noise of disproval. "Stop acting like you don't know these things." Saiki looked over to the guy.

"I'm just trying to have a friendly conversation!" She scolded him. "I'm Touou's manager and data analyzer. It's my job to be informed on other players." She finished the other knee and let Saiki stand up. "Is it good?"

"Yea, uhm thank you, you didn't really have to do any of this." Saiki said, her head still reeling from what they had said before. They had someone who followed other teams and players, she didn't want to know what that entailed for the future.

"Of course I did, it's not like Aomine-kun would have." Momoi locked the room back up and they walked out in silence, until Aomine broke it.

"Why did you quit field hockey?"

"She already answered that!" Saiki looked back and saw Aomine only shrug.

"Why would you quit if you were so good." He questioned again. Though she was unsure if he was actually asking her.

"I wouldn't be much of a help if I kept flinching away from the ball." Saiki gave a variation of her standard answer.

"Have a good day, I hope our teams face each other in the future!" Momoi said before they went their separate ways. Saiki smiled and waved telling her the same thing.

"Say hi to Testu." Was all Aomine said before turning away.

Tetsu? She wondered before realizing who he meant. Kuroko Tetsuya. The two of them must have been close if he referred to him as that nickname. But Kuroko never once mentioned Aomine.

Saiki didn't bother showering when she finally got back to her apartment. She wasn't really looking forward to the water meeting her knees or the fact that she had to use effort to stand up. Instead she folded by grabbing her laptop and sitting on her couch deciding to google the blue haired member of the Generation of Miracles.

She typed in Aomine Generation of Miracles to the search engine and pressed search. It wasn't that creepy, there were plenty of articles available to the public about the players. She was just curious as to what made him a miracle.

She skimmed an article/profile of him on a familiar site. They had done a short article on her before the national field hockey finals. From what she took away from the article, he was the ace of the Teiko team and killed other teams with his agility and formless shots. Though after that encounter she didn't expect Aomine have much agility, he seemed sluggish.

There was a video at the end, a highlight reel of sorts. She played it and couldn't believe what she was seeing. It couldn't have possibly been the same person she had just run into. His movements were explosive, not one person could hold him back. There were no barriers in his path.

Saiki could see Kuroko in some of the clips. The coordination he had with Aomine was strikingly similar to the coordination he had with Kagami. Or rather it the coordination he had with Kagami was similar to the one he had with Aomine.

The most astounding thing was the smile on Aomine's face. His face now looked like it hadn't seen a smile in months if not maybe a year. Deep inside she knew what probably signaled the change after reading the article, but she didn't want to admit it. She didn't want to have to face it.

Saiki exited out of the page and opened up a new one. Her brothers had told her to go watch a show they were featured on so she searched for it. She had switched her mindset to English to understand the video. It was a sort of behind look at the teams in the conference her brothers were in. She let the video play and got up to grab some food, keeping her ears open for her brothers or Ohio State.

She returned to the couch eating with her laptop on the little table in front of her. The first half was about a school in Nebraska and their new coach. During that part she kept zoning out, focusing on her food. She wasn't pulled back into the video until she heard someone say Ohio State.

People mentioned Daisuke and Yuzuki Saiki, which sounded wrong to Saiki every time they said their names like that. They were the two brothers on Ohio State from Japan. The other players talked about things she already knew about the two. They were opposites but were perfect for each other when it came to basketball. Daisuke was much more easygoing and stronger on offense while Yuzuki was more reserved and rigid, laying the foundation for a strong defense. They were both extremely serious about basketball and matched up to be a strong pair.

Someone brought up the nickname they had in Japan. "The Saiki Dynasty." Yuzuki never liked the title but Daisuke loved it.

"And it's continuing!" Daisuke said in the video. "Our sister is playing in Japan now too. Their team is going to be number 1 in Japan!" He seemed so confident in the statement. Saiki felt embarrassed through the video, sure she told him about their goals of being number one but he didn't really need to announce it to people in America. He hadn't even seen them play but he had complete faith in his sister.

They played a shortened version of their last game. It had been against a school called Michigan. From what Saiki could tell it must have been a big game from the way people were acting. Ohio State was dominating.

Daisuke attacked to the paint finding any chance to dunk. She noted the coordination he had with the point guard who had most of the assists to him. The point guard also grabbed her attention when she noticed his defense, which might have even been better than Yuzuki's. He was always proactive and on his feet, attempting to steal whenever possible. In short he was always in the way. It was captivating to watch him and she realized that was the defense she would have to strive for.

"Hey, Kuroko-kun." Saiki called to the shorter boy when practice had just ended. He was by himself so she figured it was a good time to ask him. It had been a few days since her encounter with Aomine and she still hadn't mentioned it to Kuroko. "I ran into Aomine over the weekend." Kuroko's eyes widened with shock not expecting to hear that name.

"What? Where?"

"In the street, I literally ran into him." Saiki pointed down to her knee's. Riko nearly pitched a fit when she saw her knees wrapped up in class. It was almost worse when she insisted on re-bandaging them before practice. Saiki wasn't often subjected to Riko's hits but this time she smacked her upside the head with so much force Saiki thought she was seeing stars.

"We'll have to face him for the inter-high tournament, won't we?" Saiki knew the answer already. She couldn't get the bluenette out of her head the rest of the weekend and drew up the different possibilities for the rest of the tournament and championship league by looking up other schools scores. Touou would undoubtedly be in the Championship league with the way they were doing now.

"We still need to beat Seiho and Shutoku." Was all he said. He was right though. There was no point to look ahead when they still had two Kings of Tokyo to face, one of which having their own member of the Generation of Miracles, Midorima Shintarou.

They had watched one of Shutoku's games and it was terrifying in a way. When Kuroko said he'd never seen Midorima miss Saiki hadn't wanted to believe it. No one could never miss. But after watching that game she had no choice but to believe him. That shooting guard never missed, no matter where he was.

"He says hi." Saiki said remembering what he had told her before leaving with Momoi. Kuroko didn't answer.

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><p><strong>AN:** I think I finally got somewhere with this! I hope I'm not effing up with writing any of the characters wrong / making the OC okay.

The field hockey goal is based off of one made by Rebecca Barry from Richmond University (side note you should really youtube it cause I don't think my writing can do it justice and I'll never get over that goal).

Ohio State is in the Big Ten Conference and for basketball (well football too but that's not important) they do this little half hour show called The Journey and it gives insight into the teams and that's what that little clip was.  
>If you want to know Ohio State's point guard is Aaron Craft and he is absolutely A+ and is a really good defender. I have an Ohio State basketball problem so I'm gonna shut up before I go to far into it.<p>

I hope you enjoyed this chapter thank you for reading this story and I'll try to update soon!


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N**: Okay so I'm really supposed to be writing a paper but I have no clue what to write so this happened instead cause a double update...Ohwell

**Update:** I just edited it a little bit cause I went back a read this and noticed some bad mistakes and that's what I get for writing at 1 in the morning opps.

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><p>Saiki sat on her couch with her laptop ready to throw it at a wall. She was supposed to be writing a paper on <em>Slaughterhouse-Five<em> and _The Sirens of Titan_ but she was having a complete block. She had to get it done today because she knew there was no way in hell she was doing it tomorrow after the Seiho and possible Shutoku game.

Frustrated she put the laptop down, grabbed her field hockey stick, ball bag, and her brothers old Touou sweatshirt, and left the apartment. Her mind was too cramped with thoughts of Kurt Vonnegut, basketball, her brothers, and somehow the former Teiko ace managed to linger in there as well. What she needed to do was drive some field hockey balls hard.

She managed to get to Touou and put the sweatshirt on when she got there. It was unlikely anyone was still at the school since the sun was almost starting to set, but she figured if someone saw the sweatshirt, they wouldn't question why she was there.

Saiki found the field hockey field and emptied the ball bag on the turf. She dragged a ball over with her stick and got ready to drive it. She took a deep breath and moved into the hit with everything she had. The ball smacked into the wooden backboard with a boom and Saiki's hands tingled from the hit. Her thoughts were already starting to dissipate.

She repeated the action a few more times before moving on the more complicated things. Her favorite was the reverse chip, she pulled the ball to her left and when it got to the right distance she lunged, flipping the stick so the flat side was up and hit the ball causing it to jump up and hit the far top corner of the goal.

When she was down to one ball and feeling much better, she began just toying with the ball. Saiki flicked the ball up and practiced balancing it on her stick. Without thinking, she threw in a few bounces, throwing it behind her back and catching it and throwing it back to the front, doing other stick tricks as well. She had mastered these moves years ago, the muscle movement was so ingrained in her mind she couldn't forget, even when she didn't pick up her stick for over a year. There was also the fact that the stick felt so familiar in her hand, she had absolute control.

"Oi, what are you doing?" Someone came up from behind her. Saiki gasped and missed the ball. She spun around and was face to face with Aomine Daiki in his school uniform.

"Don't you go to Seirin?" He questioned eyeballing her Touou sweatshirt

"Oh, yea, but I live closer to Touou." She answered hastily. Saiki had just finished clearing her mind and here Aomine Daiki came to mess it all up again.

"I thought you quit field hockey." It was more of a statement than anything but now he was staring at the stick in her hand.

"Yea well hitting things really hard tends to be therapeutic at times." He reached for the stick and tried to attempt the air dribbling she had been doing before. He failed miserable. "You might want to stick to basketball then." She let out a little laugh.

"I could probably still hit it hard." Aomine started lining up the ball not looking at the girl. Saiki shook her head since she knew he was going to do it wrong. He was already standing wrong with his back hunched over instead of bending his knees.

Immediately after hitting the ball, he dropped the stick and shook his hands from the vibrations that ran through the stick. The ball the tried to drive popped up in the air and would have been called as a dangerous ball.

"You did it all wrong." She laughed grabbing the stick and another ball. "Everyone thinks it has to do with all arm strength, but the power from a hit doesn't come from there. It's a transfer of power from the back foot to the front." She drove the ball as she explained it and was met with the familiar sound of the ball crashing into the backboard. "And your form was all wrong, you bend your legs, not your back."

"Tch I'm too tall for that sport." Saiki rolled her eyes, to play field hockey you had to bend your knees, no matter how tall you were.

"What are you still doing here?" There was no way their basketball practice could have gone till now. That was an insane amount of practice time.

"I over slept." She eyed the bluenette trying to figure out what that meant, but she came up with nothing.

Aomine's phone started ringing in his pocket and he pulled it out with a sigh.

"Satsuki?" Saiki recognized the name from the last time she saw him. It was Momoi. "I was sleeping." Pause. "Eh." Pause. "There's no need to worry, the only one who can beat me is me." He hung up the phone. Saiki couldn't believe what he had just said. He had to have a lot of balls to say that.

"Really?" She looked up at Aomine.

"Wah?"

"'The only one who can beat me is me.' Really now?" She tried to do an impression of his voice. Aomine narrowed his eyes.

"Yea."

"You need to have a lot of balls to say that."

"You're not getting a 1 on 1 from me. That would be pointless." He sighed looking away. "You probably know all about that from field hockey." He looked back at the stick. "Why did you quit?" He said looking back at her. Saiki was caught off guard.

"I told you, my rib-"

"Tch, I'm going." He turned away shaking his head without saying anything else and left. Saiki watched him leave not knowing what else to do. She was half tempted to call out and question why Kuroko never mentioned him if it seemed like they were so close. But she knew that was probably iffy grounds and shouldn't go there. Instead, she grabbed her back and started picking up the balls. She was no longer in the mood to drive balls after that, and the sun was almost gone. It was better to go now.

While walking home she noticed there was still an hour left of visiting time at the hospital. She changed her course and decided to visit Kiyoshi since it had been a while.

By the time Saiki got to the hospital there was still only a few minutes left of visiting time but she would take them. She had gotten some stares as she lugged her field hockey stuff up with her to Kiyoshi's room but there wasn't much she could do. To go home and then back out was counterproductive.

"Knock knock." She said lightly tapping her stick on the wall gaining Kiyoshi's attention.

"Ah Saiki-san!" He smiled straightening his posture in the bed. "Don't tell me you've left the team for field hockey."

"Ha no I just had to hit some balls to try and get rid of some writers block." She smiled back. "I was in the neighborhood and figured I'd stop by before visiting hours were done." She lightly put her field hockey stuff down and sat in the chair next to the bed.

"Well thank you for visiting. Riko's been telling me about you guys and how you've been doing. She said you're not doing too bad yourself." Kiyoshi was still cheerful as ever. Of course even in a hospital bed with a knee injury that would eventually stop him from playing basketball he would be the epitome of cheerful.

"I'm hanging in there. It's the two first years, Kagami and Kuroko who are killing it. I'm sure Riko's mentioned them."

"Yea, they seem to be meshing with the rest of you guys."

"They're really starting a fire under our butts." Saiki laughed. "I think they helped the rest of our confidence grow after-" Saiki stopped herself from finishing the sentence. She didn't want to touch on that subject.

"That's good! I can't wait to join you guys after." He was completely unfazed by the topic almost being brought up. Of course he was.

"I'm sorry ms. but visiting times are over." A nurse popped her head in the door. Saiki looked over to the clock in the room and frowned.

"Ah come again soon Saiki." Kiyoshi smiled.

"You focus on getting better." Saiki said as she picked up her stuff from the ground.

"I'm looking forward to that game." He still hadn't dropped the notion that they were going to have a one on one when he got out.

"Yea me too, bye." She waved before leaving and he did the same. She hoped he would never change.

When she got home she put everything back away and stared back at her laptop.

"Fuck." She muttered out loud when she realized she still had no clue what to write. She was right back at square one.

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><p><strong>AN:** Yea I'm supposed to be writing a paper on _Slaugherhouse-Five_ and _The Sirens of Titan_ but due to a severe block this happened and I'm just gonna update twice in one day (well night really)...I just wanted some more Aomine okay.

I really need to get this paper done so I should go do that now...

Thank you for reading and reviews are greatly appreciated!


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Sorry for the update being a bit delayed. I went away on a trip before I could get another chapter out. Here's another basketball chapter, I apologize for any mistakes and I hope you enjoy!

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><p>Saiki struggled with the ball. Putting it simply, getting past this defense was hard. As was expected of a nationally ranked team, but experiencing it was something else entirely. Simple fakes and ankle breakers weren't going to cut it in this match, Seiho was Tokyo's best defense.<p>

However, she and the rest of the second years had spent extra time studying their movements. This was a revenge match as Hyuga had put it before and her blood was boiling for a win. Especially since a first year began running his mouth when she was one of the subs for Kuroko and Kagami.

"Oh, they're both gone? And you subbed in the injured girl from last year? It's a little disappointing but whatever. I didn't think she'd actually play, I thought she was just there for show." Saiki had to resist the urge to punch her opponent.

After failing to get passed the Seiho defense, she decided it was time to pull a trick out of her sleeve. The key was to find their center of balance and then throw it off. Saiki drove hard on a slight angle and flicked her wrist to let the ball go in front of her. She had put just enough spin on the ball that when she stepped back from the drive it followed shortly after without her touching it. The defender lost his balance getting caught up in the trick leaving her open for a simple fade away hitting the three once he was down.

"Nice!" The others called out. They were slowly being figuring out how to beat the defense. Sadly, she wouldn't be able to keep repeating her spin trick. It was simple to figure out after seeing it a few times. The wrist movement gave it all away. It still made the defenders uneasy to think that trick could be pulled off.

After getting past the defense a few times they identified her as a threat and her magnet drive began to work its magic. As the intensity of the game drove on her ball handling became more creative. She took a step forward to her defender, passed the ball to herself behind her back, passed it back to herself in the front through her legs, and drove right hard. The defender lost the ball and she was able to break passed him. There was no need to panic when more defenders met her in the paint. It felt like a natural reaction when she spun and passed the ball out to Mitobe who was behind her and stayed where she was to set a screen. Though she struggled to stay upright as the defender slammed into her not noticing her screen.

Her main flaw was that she had to plan her movements before she actually drove. Saiki wasn't good at adjusting on the fly. She didn't have enough control over her body and wasn't comfortable enough. On the other side of that her planned out drives usually did their job, whether it opened up a lane for her to shoot or allowed her to get a good pass off to her teammates. But it wasn't going to work forever.

They got the ball on offense and watched from down low as the next play unfolded. He passed the ball to Hyuga cutting to his right and then cut away bringing his defender with him. Koganei made a cut at the same time bringing his defender and Izuki's defender crashing into each other, leaving Izuki wide open for the layup. With a good eye, exploiting man to man defense could be easy.

"It would be nice if you'd call that a nice shot." Izuki ran beside their captain.

"Do you want to be subbed out already? Go die." The team really did have a loving relationship

On defense Saiki tried everything she could to stop the other team. She had taken to calling Yuzuki and trying to have him give her tips on defense, but you could only explain so much through the phone. But she took every little piece of advice he gave her and tried to apply it to the games she played in.

The Seiho player she was marking had the ball and she instantly thought to some of the things Yuzuki had told her. Step up, keep moving, just get in the way, and make sure you don't do anything stupid to foul. It was all basic things, but having her brother tell her them really put things in perspective for her.

At times Saiki was able to hold the player back long enough to find a pattern in his movements and reached in for the clean steal. Her hand connected with the ball and she was off. She saw Mitobe down the court and passed it down to him. She sprinted back up the court and when Mitobe was covered she flashed her hand out leading in front of her showing she was open for the pass. He silently passed the ball and Saiki caught it with her right hand then immediately went for the layup.

She stopped attempting free form shoots after the Kaijou game. The percentage of the shots she actually made was so few that it was too reckless to even attempt them in a game. No matter how many times she practiced them the shots just weren't there.

The game seemed to be going well, and then Koganei tried to keep the ball in bounds and ended up crashing into their own bench. It was a good hustle, the result just wasn't what he'd hoped it would be. A nice little concussion and Kagami trying to get back in the game. Cause guys with four fouls should really be playing.

Saiki thought Kagami was going to kill Kuroko when he pointed that out.

"What'd you say, Kuroko?" He was gripping the shorter boys head with his fist. Kuroko ignored the hand covering his face.

"If you fouled Tsugawa-kun again, you'll just be thrown off the court." That seemed to actually get to the red head.

"I won't!" He protested, "I've got to pay Tsugawa back for what he did!"

"Fine. I will beat Tsugawa-kun for you."

"What good will that do!" Kagami was back to trying to crush Kuroko's skull again. "There's no point if you beat him! What are you talking about?"

"Fine. As another first-year, take down Tsugawa, Kuroko." Hyuga announced. Kagami still looked like he was going to kill someone.

The game started again with Kuroko in Koganei's place. This would be the first time Saiki was actually playing in a game at the same time as Kuroko, and she was looking forward to it.

She was a little shocked to see the misdirection so up close again. Izuki passed the ball to Kuroko while Hyuga broke passed his defense making him the open pass. Hyuga took his opportunity for the lay-up as Seiho was still in shock by Kuroko's pass.

Once Kuroko was in, the morale of the team seemed to increase even more. Steals were increasing, getting passed the defense was easier, and their patterns became more noticeable. Everything was clicking.

Saiki made a cut, got a pass from Kuroko, and made the easy layup while no one was on her. They were closing the point gap and their goal of beating this team was coming closer. Seiho noticed this and applied more defensive pressure with a constant man to man while Izuki tried to bring the ball down during the last possession. Izuki rolled off a screen and got the ball to Kuroko who was temporarily stopped. Hyuga missed no time getting open and was able to fire off a buzzer beater to win the game.

They did it. They beat a team who had previously tripled their score. They were going to the finals.

Saiki ran over with the rest of the team and celebrated their win. She patted Hyuga on the back congratulating their clutch shooter. All their studying and hard work actually paid off. They seniors got their revenge.

"Why?!" The 1st year from Seiho yelled out. "Seirin just formed last year! We practice way more than them! They didn't stand a chance last year! No matter how you look at it, we're stronger!"

"Enough Tsugawa." The Seiho captain walked over to the underclassman.

"But."

"The strong don't win. The winners are the strong ones. They were stronger. That's all."

"Tell me your name!" Tsugawa called out to Kuroko. "Your name!"

"It's Kuroko Tetsuya."

"I'll remember it. I definitely won't forget."

"Thanks."

They lined up at the end of the match for the final score. Saiki's mind was already looking toward the next match. If that game was a hard one she couldn't even imagine what the next one would bring. They were going up against another member of the Generation of Miracles, Midorima, and he never missed. They looked over to the score of the Shutoku game that had just ended, 113 to 38. Yea, this one was definitely going to be a bit rough. But Saiki made sure to keep positive thoughts in her mind. Negative thoughts wouldn't do anything. Besides, she believed in her team mates.

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><p>Yea this Shutoku game was difficult. Saiki would be lying if she said she wasn't rattled by Midorima's shooting range and Takao's Hawkeye. But having the full court being within his range. Come one that was just insane. But here Midorima was, with the ability to shoot from anywhere on the court. And then there was Takao, who could successfully stop Kuroko's passes, a feat she had never seen anyone else execute.<p>

So the second half started with Saiki out on the court in place of Kuroko. She got a back pass from Izuki, passed the ball to herself in between the defenders legs, and went up for the layup. Sometimes being shorter than most other forwards had its advantages.

Takao and Midorima quickly worked to answer her basket and Saiki thought her basket meant nothing. That was until she saw Kagami get a touch on Midorima's shot. It of course still went in, but it rolled around the rim before falling in. It was the first time his shot actually touched the rim, and it was a critical opening for the rest of Seirin.

In response to the threat of Midorima the the rest of the team settled in a zone defense leaving Kagami to face guard Midorima. He was finally able to spot Midorima's weakness in shooting and blocked one of Midorima's shots. Though their captain was still able to dunk it in. Even if they shut down Midorima, they still had a strong team.

But Kagami was putting up a good fight. He was slowly blocking more of Midorima's shots. He was carrying the team on his jumps.

"Nice shot Kagami." Saiki called out to the underclassman.

"Could you give me the ball more?" Was all he responded with. He intended on winning this game by himself and Saiki was taken off guard. There was a change happening in Kagami. He was able to get the gap down to 9 points, but at this rate there was a chance that he would burn himself out if he just relied on only himself. And that's exactly what happened toward the end of the 3rd quarter. The excessive play was taking a toll on his body.

Saiki could feel it too. Her drives to the rim weren't as strong and taking shots while marked was nearly out of the question for her. The few times she attempted it their center was there to swat the ball away as if it were a fly.

The 3rd quarter ended and Saiki sat on the bench with her water trying to restore the water she had lost in her sweat. She focused on her breathing but stopped when she heard Kagami.

"I'm the only one who stands a chance against Shutoku. We don't need team play now. We need me to score."

"Hey what are you saying?"

"That's different from being self-centered."

Saiki almost spit out her water when she saw Kuroko walk up to Kagami and throw a punch at him. The rest of the team stared in shock. It was completely out of the ordinary for Kuroko to show any signs of violence.

"Damn it! Kuroko, you bastard!" After the initial shock of the punch wore off Kagami got up and grabbed Kuroko by his warm up shirt.

"You can't play basketball by yourself." Kuroko's tone of voice had changed as well. He was angry with Kagami.

"As long as we play nice together, you don't care if we lose?" Kagami accused "There's no point if we lose."

"There's no point if you win by yourself." Kuroko countered. "You said you wanted to beat the Generation of Miracles, but you're thinking just like them. Even if we beat Shutoku as a team that can't trust each other, no one will be happy." Kagami punched the shorter boy and Saiki moved forward to separate the two players but Hyuga put his hand on her shoulder to holder her back. This was something they had to work out.

"Don't be so naïve. If we don't win, those words are nothing more than nice words!"

"Then what is victory?" Kuroko questioned. "No matter how many more points you have at the end of the game, if you are not happy, that is not victory." Saiki's eyes widened as she mind went straight to Aomine. Though she only met him twice she remembered how he acted toward basketball. He declared that no one could beat him beside himself, it was almost obvious that he wouldn't be one to focus on team play. But then how were him and Kuroko close before?

"That's right. It's not like we want to lose." Koganei broke in.

"We're just saying there's no reason for you to do it all yourself." Izuki spoke next.

"Do you have any objections?" Hyuga was the last one.

"No, but, well. Sorry." Kagami apologized to Kuroko who was still sitting on the floor. "Of course I'd rather be happy when we win." Saiki smiled at Kagami's words. He used when instead of if, he still intended on winning this game .

"Now that Kuroko's calmed Kagami down, the situation hasn't changed. What should we do?" Hyuga was referring to the score, which was left off as 47 to 61 in Shutoku's favor.

"Excuse me," Kuroko stood up. "There may be one thing we can do. I can only pass the ball, but I can take it up another level."

"Your new pass?" Riko questioned.

"Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Only a few people can catch it." Kuroko responded. "But in his current condition, Kagami-kun may be one of them. However, just passing to Kagami won't work until the end. We'll have to break free from Takao-kun and use normal passes as well."

"But maybe we can do it. Besides my eyes are cramping up." Izuki said.

"What does that mean?" Koganei asked next to him.

Saiki sat back on the bench as Kuroko reentered the match. Part of her was relieved she got a break but there was still the other part of her that wanted to be out on the court even though she could feel her legs were shot. In the guys games, her jumps seemed like average jumps, but if she were to play against girls, they would be much more intimidating, though they called for much more energy. It was that way for anything she did in this basketball, her speed, her agility, it all matched up to guys basketball. If she played girls basketball she would look like a monster since she had the skills to keep up in the guys games.

But playing two games at full power was exhausting. She hadn't felt this tired in years, and there was something inside of her that welcomed it. Saiki could never find this satisfaction in field hockey.

She tried to make herself sit back and support her teammates from the bench. Kuroko and Kagami were killing it out there. She could tell Seirin had almost no energy left but they were able to push through it and put up a fight against Shutoku. Saiki believed in her team.

And within the last few minutes Hyuga was able to make a three to put Seirin in the lead. Saiki stood up with the rest of the bench assuming they won. Her heart stopped as Shutoku got the ball to Midorima.

Kagami jumped up for the block but Midorima faked. Saiki thought she was going to have a heart attack until Kuroko was able to tip the ball away from Midorima as the buzzer rang. Saiki ran on to the court and used the last of her strength to jump on top of Kagami's back, though all she succeeded in doing was knocking him down since he couldn't support her weight after pushing himself to the limit after that jump. They did it, they were going to the Championship league.

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><p><strong>AN:** I always have difficulties writing the basketball parts so I tried... Hopefully it wasn't too bad. The next chapter should have Aomine in it and shouldn't take too long to get up.

I really appreciate all of the follows, favorites, and reviews and they encourage me to keep writing so thank you all for reading!.


	8. Chapter 8

Saiki browsed through the bookstore looking for the book she needed for school. In English, they were reading in English, specifically American literature. So now she was looking for _The Great Gatsby_, a book she had already read back in America. She didn't get why she actually took that class seriously. She had been fluent in English since she was a kid, the class was more of a formality at this point.

The ginger took her time locating the book. There wasn't much for her to do afterwards. She had already gone for a run, finished her homework, and did her laundry. All that was left was to get this book for English. Saiki grabbed the book off the shelf and took a long route to the register. It was a lazy Sunday.

Basketball monthly caught her eye in the magazine section and she saw there was a high school section in it. Primarily, the upset in the Tokyo Inter-high preliminaries. It was expected that either Seiho or Shutoku advanced to the Championship League. Instead Seirin managed to rise and take the spot.

Saiki flipped to the article and scanned through the article. It highlighted where the two teams went wrong in the final day of the tournament and where Seirin went right. She couldn't believe they were actually featured in the article. Though, when they spoke about Seirin they mainly spoke about Kagami being able to challenge a member of the Generation of Miracles.

"So you guys won." She turned her head and saw Aomine looking over her shoulder at the article. "'Seirin's 6th man, or 6th woman, Saiki Tsubasa uses her ball handling to create opportunities for her teammates and, at times, herself. She is able to help change the flow of a game with her actions as a not so typical small forward. Instead she plays the role of a point forward with her acute passing sense.'" Aomine read from the article. Saiki's face went red and she shut the magazine. "Oi I was reading that."

"Well you can flip back to the page." She handed the magazine to him and tried to move away.

"Eh, too much work." He said putting the magazine on a random shelf. Saiki started walking toward the register again and Aomine followed.

"How's Touou's team going?" Saiki asked when she realized he was still behind her. He let out his signature bored sighed.

"We're winning, so it's good."

"So we'll see you in the Championship League?" Saiki looked up at the tall boy.

"Yea," He answered. "Too bad you'll lose."

"You're quick to judge."

"It's true. You can't beat me."

"You act like I can't even make a basket against you." Saiki was getting fed up. How was Kuroko ever friend's with this guy?

"You can't." Aomine shrugged. He really was an asshole at times.

"How can you know?" He really was a child.

"Because the only one who can beat -"

"Oh shut up." Saiki handed her books to the man at the register.

"_The Great Gatsby_?" Aomine read before going over to the other open register.

"It's for English." She mumbled. "What are you getting?" Her eyes went wide when he flashed the cover of a gravure magazine. This guy had no shame.

"You asked." He shrugged again. Saiki rolled her eyes. What pissed her off about this guy was that she had only spoken to him twice before and he still managed to pop up in her thoughts if she didn't pay attention, no matter how much of an asshole he was every time. Aomine never seemed to catch on to his assholey-ness.

Saiki felt incredibly awkward walking out of the store still being with Aomine. They had finished checking out at the same time and now they were heading in the same direction. She made sure to be a few steps behind him trying to distance herself from him. This encounter was going to do a number on her head. A few minutes passed and they had to stop at a light.

"You're still following me?" Aomine turned around at the light and Saiki struggled to keep her face straight. He was the one that followed her first technically.

"No!" Saiki waved her hands in front of her face. "My apartments this way."

"No need to get so defensive." They got the light and kept walking in the same direction. They kept walking together in awkward silence and Saiki turned her attention to the basketball court across the street. She was very aware of his presence next to her and she was 90% sure her face would turn red if she didn't stop focusing.

"Teach me field hockey." Aomine stated. It wasn't so much a question or a request, it was more of an order.

"What? No." Saiki looked up at the him. It was so out of the blue she couldn't even process it. "Why do you want to learn field hockey?" He shrugged in response.

"One on one then. If I beat you, you teach me field hockey." Saiki looked at Aomine still trying to figure out his motive but she was stumped. "You might as well just agree to teach me field hockey because you can't beat me."

"Oh just shut up and get off your high horse." She turned to cross the street and headed toward the court across the street. Saiki wasn't stupid. She knew she had a slim to none chance at actually winning against him but she could still try. She was known to be able to get passed Kagami and recently had been able to have close games with him. She could probably get one basket against Aomine.

Saiki put her book down and took her phone out of her pocket. She looked down at her sneakers and realized she really shouldn't be doing this. Her sneakers weren't necessarily athletic and had almost no support. Her ankles were going to feel this later.

Aomine tossed her a ball that someone had left on the court. She saw him push up his long sleeves. _Oh that's not even fair_. She could only see his forearms but damn those muscles. He couldn't really be a 1st year.

"You could just agree to teach me field hockey and we won't have to go through this. It really is pointless." Saiki narrowed her eyes. His attitude was something else.

She started slow and tried to think of her options. She changed her speed and rocked forward before spinning to the right. Aomine was completely unfazed and continued to stay with her. She tried to use her body to shield the ball and move it behind her but it was useless. Aomine moved in a blur, getting a clean steal and took the ball down the court and tossed the ball off in his usual I don't care demeanor. Saiki could hardly process what had just happened. How could someone move like that?

Saiki remembered back to the video of him from middle school. There he played with an incredible smile and amusement on his face. But now his face looked the same as the first time they met, flat and bored.

"Five rounds." She called out to him, still determined to make at least one basket.

"Three."

"Fine." Saiki realized that was probably the best she would get.

This time Saiki focused on irregular patterns. Matching Aomine's speed would be impossible. She could still try to use her agility though. She struggled to find a way to pass him, no matter how fast she was, he was faster. No ankle bitter or crossover trick worked on him, his reaction time was the quickest she had ever seen. Saiki tried to hold her composure with the ball. Everything about Aomine was intimidating on the court. It took everything for her to not give up.

She stopped focusing for not even a second and the ball was gone. Down the court he went and she watched him leap up and dunk the ball in the basket. Saiki was in awe by the effortless display of power for a few moments until Aomine chucked the ball back at her. This was the power of the Generation of Miracles. It was as if she wasn't even an opponent. Was this what it was like for those she played against in field hockey?

She was officially teaching Aomine field hockey, but that didn't stop her from wanting to do the last round. It was her last shot to get a decided to use her shorter stature as an advantage. She stayed low focusing on each crossover thinking about her next move. Her mind was racing, figuring out new routes and dodges. Still nothing shook him. She just had to get faster. Aomine's defense was relentless. He was always there to stop her. The pressure was worse than the previous round and her mind didn't work well trying to come up with routes on the fly. He didn't give her enough time to plan her attacks and nothing she did would shake him.

For a few moments her mind cleared and she slipped into muscle memory. It was took one quick move to shake Aomine for the moment and she threw the ball around him with one arm. It was the first free form shot she took in months and it looked like it was actually going to go in. That was, until Aomine got a last minute touch on the ball with his finger. The ball rolled around the rim and fell out.

Saiki didn't give herself time to mourn her blocked shot. She let Aomine get the rebound and gave herself a few short moments to get back on defense. Within seconds Aomine was on the attack. Saiki made sure to keep moving. If she stayed flat-footed she was dead. She went through the defense checklist in her head from her brother. She was going to do everything she could to hold him on the outside.

If getting past Aomine was difficult, keeping him contained on defense was impossible. Her defense only lasted under a minute. She was able to stay upright and not get caught up in his crossovers but his shot was impossible to defend. He looked so natural with the ball she didn't even realize he was going for the shot. It hadn't looked like a shot but with a flick of his hand the ball flew effortlessly into the basket.

"I told you." Was all he said. He looked completely unfazed by the game. No one would be able to tell he actually just played a game. Saiki tried to catch her breath.

"That doesn't mean I shouldn't try." If there was one thing she learned from Seirin was to always try. Even when all the odds were stacked against you, you just needed that one chance.

"Your team is like that, aren't they." He pointed out. Raindrops started to fall and the sky began to darken.

"In defense of my loss, I do have crappy sneakers on." Saiki could feel it in her ankles after only three rounds. Aomine actually let out a little chuckle.

"Sure." The rain started coming down harder and the sky was dark.

"Next Sunday, 1pm at Touou." Saiki said. There was a rumble of thunder in the distance. "You're lucky I have a spare stick!" She turned back to grab her book before the rain destroyed it.

"You better make sure the you have a better game in the Championship League."

"Just wait for Kagami!" She called out before sprinting away in the rain with her book. She thought she heard him yell back a snarky comment or something but he was drowned out by the thunder and rain.

* * *

><p>Saiki was walking around her apartment waiting for Riko to come. Saiki was hopelessly lost in their current stat lesson. So she waited for her friend pacing around in a matching sports bra and basketball shorts. They were actually Daisuke's Touou ones. Just by seeing her apartment people would assume she went to Touou. They had left the apartment like her brother had left it before he went to America. There were Touou banners on the wall and a few team photos.<p>

She probably should be resting her ankles after the torture she put them through, but sitting still wasn't an option at the moment. Saiki kept analyzing everything that had happened only a few hours ago on the basketball court and the thoughts kept her moving. So she taped bags of ice to her ankles and paced around the apartment visualizing what she could learn from the mini one on one game.

The most obvious thing to her was that she had to learn how to play without having a direct plan. She had to be able to react with muscle memory and have complete faith in her actions while doing so. But that's what she did in field hockey and in field hockey-

Saiki was pulled out of her thoughts by the doorbell and she ran over to open the door.

"Hi Ri-"Saiki opened the door expecting to see Riko but instead Aomine stood in the same clothes as before outside her door. She froze and realized she was standing there, in a sports bra and Touou basketball shorts. Her face flushed red and she shut the door and looked for the nearest shirt, which happened to be the Touou sweatshirt. Goddammit. She thought as she put the sweatshirt on.

"Do you great everyone like that or just this Ri?" Aomine asked when she opened the door again.

"Where did you get my address?" Saiki ignored his earlier statement. She was more concerned with how he even figured out where she lived.

"I asked Satsuki to ask Imayoshi where your brother used to live and thought to give it a shot." He held out her phone to her. "You forgot this before." Saiki had completely forgotten about her phone. It didn't even occur to her that she left it in the rain.

"Uh, thanks." She took the phone and scratched her head. "I completely forgot about that."

"So you're a huge Touou fan?" Aomine said peering into the room behind her. "That'll make the Championship League awkward, rooting for a different team and all."

"Ha ha ha ha no." Saiki said with a straight face. "It's all Daisuke's stuff, I'm just too lazy to redecorate."

"Yea sure." He said turning around. "See you next week. Hope your ankles get better." Saiki stood in the doorway in shock. Aomine goes from being a jerk, to being kind, to back to a jerk, to being interested in field hockey leaving her to try to make sense of it all. But as always she was dumfounded.

The phone buzzed in her hand and she looked down. '_I'm coming up.'_ It was from Riko. Saiki realized she should probably take the ice off her ankles before Riko could see but it was too late. Riko was already kicking her into the apartment yelling at her.

"What did you do!? I leave you for one day and you're falling apart!"

"They're just sore there's nothing wrong!" Saiki tried to shield herself.

"They better be!"

"Just help me with the stat!" This was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p>Saiki was in the pool doing squats with the rest of the team. Her ankles had recovered with rest overnight and she was back in action. But now with these squats in the pool the rest of her body was aching.<p>

"Pool exercises are rough." Izuki announced what everyone was thinking. Saiki looked over to Kuroko who usually struggled with workouts and almost yelled.

"Kuroko, don't sleep! Don't just sleep there!" Hyuga yelled at him.

They were back at doing squats and Saiki pushed through the burn.

"What a cute dog." Saiki recognized the voice and turned to see Momoi. The others in the pool did the same and almost drowned when they saw her in her bathing suit.

"Momoi-san." Everyone looked over to Kuroko.

"You know her?"

"Excuse me," Riko stepped in, obviously annoyed at the attention she was getting from the boys "who are you?"

"Hmm, how should I introduce myself?" Momoi wondered out loud. "I'm Tetsu-kun's girlfriend. I couldn't wait for the Championship League, so I came here!" Saiki almost slipped in the pool when she recognized the variation of the nickname Aomine used before. She hadn't really expected that.

"Tetsu-kun?" No one else caught on.

"Kuroko Tetsuya-kun." Momoi announced. The other guys were a bit jealous.

"Kuroko you have a girlfriend?!" Their captain yelled.

"No, she was my manager in middle school." Kuroko of course was the calmest one in the current situation. He started to climb out of the pool.

"I'm so glad to see you!" Momoi attached herself to Kuroko.

"Momoi-san, I can't breathe." Yea, the guys were still just a bit jealous. Saiki wanted to bash her head into the side of the pool.

"Wait why Kuroko?" Koganei questioned. "He's dull and invisible and boring!"

"What?" Momoi was still hanging on to Kuroko. "That's what's so good about him. But isn't the way he becomes a different person when he plays striking? Besides, he gave me a Popsicle. That's why I wanted to go to the same school as Tetsu-kun. But, but." Momoi started crying and Saiki resisted the urge to cover her ears.

"Momoi-san, your voice echoes in the pool, so please don't yell." Kuroko said still calm. Saiki and everyone else were completely lost.

"Don't try to sneak glances at her!" Riko had kicked Hyuga into the pool.

"You'll kill Hyuga-san!" Momoi turned her attention away from Kuroko.

"How do you know my name?" Saiki remembered having the same feeling when she had met Momoi for the first time. It really is creepy.

"I know all of you." She smiled. "Seirin basketball club captain and clutch shooter, Hyuga-san. The eagle eyed point guard, Izuki-san. The silent and hardworking hook shooter, Mitobe-san. The small chested, often underestimated, point forward, Saiki-kun." Saiki cringed. What the hell did her boobs have to do with basketball. Besides, she had been an athlete her whole life, boobs were never going to be a thing for her. "The power forward with incredible jumping power, Kagami-kun. Also Koganei-san and Tsuchida-san. And finally, barely b-cup coach, Riko-san."

"Don't be ridiculous!" Riko yelled out. Saiki thought she was going to throw her in the pool.

"Momoi-san," Kuroko called Momoi's attention away from Riko. "Did you really go to Aomine-kun's school?"

"Yea," Saiki noticed her get sad with the mention of Aomine. "I really did want to go to your school. But who knows what he'll do if I don't watch him." Saiki was interested in the conversation. She had met Aomine three times and only knew that he was a child like teenager who played basketball, bought gravure magazine, and had a past with Kuroko. Momoi turned her attention to Saiki

"Oh Saiki-kun, I hope Aomine-kun gave you your phone back." That was it. Saiki wanted to hide in a corner. Kuroko was the only person who knew she had even met Aomine. But he was only aware of the time she physically ran in to him. Everyone started at her.

"Ah, yea," She wanted to shrink into nothing, "thanks."

"I'm sorry but we need to get to practice." Riko was clearly done with this distraction.

"Coach, would you mind if I stayed and talked to Momoi-san?" Kuroko asked.

"Fine," Riko took a sigh, "just make sure you make it to practice." The rest of the team headed for the showers.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yeaa more writing. Sorry if there's any typo's or grammar mistakes, I try to get them all out. I really hope I'm keeping everyone in character and stuff and I hope that everyone is enjoying this. I really appreciate the review and all of the favorites and follows! I really like the opinions and input and they help me keep writing.


	9. Chapter 9

"So, Saiki-san." Riko crept up behind her when they were waiting outside for everyone to finish up in the showers. "What was your phone doing with a member of the Generation of Miracles?" The others who were outside turned to listen. _Ah crap_.

"I saw him in a book store and ended up doing a quick one on one yesterday." Saiki scratched her head and tried to laugh it off.

"How do you get from being in a bookstore to a basketball court- Wait is that what happened to your ankles?!" Saiki flinched back waiting for the coach to hit her.

"I was wearing crappy shoes! They're okay now!"

"You're missing the most important point!" Hyuga cut in. "How is he?" Everyone got serious as he referenced the ace of the Generation of Miracles.

"He's a monster." Everyone's mood fell and Saiki realized what she did. "It can't be impossible though." She put in hastily. "We just have to put everything we have on the court and more."

"We have under a week to prepare." Riko announced. "We're going to show them what we got."

The team started walking back to the school and Saiki dragged behind to make a phone call. She scrolled through her phone looking for Daisuke's number. He should be able to give some hints to the returning players at Touou. She almost immediately noticed a name in her contacts that hadn't been there before. Aomine Daiki. That little shit. She scrolled past it and figured she would deal with it later.

"Hey Tsuba! I wasn't expecting a call from you!" Daisuke answered. Saiki actually hadn't expected him to answer.

"Oh, you're actually awake?" With the time difference she expected him to be asleep. She could hear guys in the background asking him who was talking to and teasing him.

"Yea we're coming back from a game, hold on, It's just my sister you ass." He switched to English while he yelled one of his teammates. "How's it going?"

"We're playing Touou soon." She blurted out. "I was just wondering what if you could say anything about your old teammates."

"Ah good ol' Touou." Daisuke stopped and thought for a moment. "I guess I'll start with the captain this year, Imayoshi." Saiki recognized the name from the previous night. He had indirectly given Aomine her address. "He's the one with the glasses and Kansai accent. He'll really piss you off. He's a pro at reading people, not someone you want to play poker with. Uh, there's Susa too, he's a power forward and strong all arounder." He paused. "They got Aomine Daiki though, right? He'd be power forward then. That'll be insane." Daisuke never experienced a game against any of the Generation of Miracles. He had no clue

"Yea Aomine's pretty good." It was such an understatement.

"I bet you could take him." He really had no clue.

"You act like I'm the ace or something."

"You're not?" He mocked.

"Oh shush up."

"Hey did you know Akashi's in the Generation of Miracles?" Daisuke changed the subject.

"No, I had no clue." She answered sarcastically.

"Go figure though. That kid hated losing. I can't see him ever losing." It was true, Yuzuki once had been so close to beating him in Shogi and it was almost as though the world was ending.

"As far as I know they remained undefeated through Teiko. I think only recently Kise and Midorima lost."

"No way! Who beat them?" Daisuke was clearly excited by this news.

"Ah, Seirin." She said quietly.

"No way! Yuzuki, guess what Tsuba did? They beat two of the Generation of Miracles!" She could hear guys in the background telling them to speak English.

"Wait, the Generation of Miracles?" Yuzuki answered in English in the distance.

"What the fuck is a Generation of Miracles." Someone else laughed at the name in the back. It was a corny name.

"They're these insane basketball players. They were on a team together before that was undefeated for 3 years and now they're split in high school." Daisuke answered his teammate.

"Japanese basketball is weak." A different voice said.

"Thanks, anyway," Daisuke turned back to the phone speaking Japanese, "just stay focused. You guys are obviously strong if you beat Kise and Midorima. Awh man, imagine if you guys ever beat Akashi."

"Oi don't get ahead of yourself." The rest of the team was up ahead of her at the school. "Alright I have to go to practice."

"Good luck, tell me about the game." He moved away from the phone. "Yuzuki, tell Tsuba good luck." He called out in English and instead of just Yuzuki answering the whole bus answered.

"Thanks, bye." She laughed and met up with the rest of the team.

* * *

><p>Saiki walked down the street after practice and looked at the recently added contact in her phone. Part of her wanted to call Aomine and yell at him for actually playing Kagami. But Kagami agreed to play him while he was injured so they were both at fault in a sense. They were such idiots. She put her phone down and continued walking.<p>

"Saiki-san, is that you?" Kise was running toward her. _What the fu_ "I just had a photo shoot, do you wanna grab some food? My train doesn't leave for awhile so I have time." _What the fuck._

"I just came from practice I'm sure you don't-" Saiki tried to come up with an excuse but Kise cut her off. Why was he trying to make lunch plans with her of all people.

"That's great you should be hungry! Come on, I know a good place." He didn't even wait for her to answer. He just dragged her down the street. Saiki struggled to keep up with the model since he legs had almost no feeling from practice.

"Here we are." Kise opened the door for her and she tried to figure out how she got here. At a table. Across from Kise. She never even formally spoke to him before. Hopefully the food would be quick.

"I heard Seirin made it to the Championship League." So that's what this was about.

"Yup, we made it." Saiki said not really sure what else to say. She tried to ignore the people staring over at their table. Darn Kise and his modeling career.

"And Aominecchi is your first opponent." There was the nickname thing he did. She remembered when he called Kuroko Kurokocchi. Saiki nodded her head expecting him to go on.

"What?"

"I'm just wondering how the game will go." The waitress came over and they both got water. "Do you think you can beat him." She was a bit caught off.

"I," She started and then stopped to think again. This wasn't her teammates. This was just a spectator. "I don't know." She answered truthfully.

"Hmm I didn't expect that from you." Kise's face fell.

"Why?"

"Your basketball styles." He said like it was obvious. "The formless shot you had at the practice match, it matches Aomine's. Pair that up with Kagami and Kuroko's team and I thought you guys could possibly stand a chance."

"I haven't made a formless shot since then actually."

"What? Don't tell me that was just luck!" Kise looked genuinely disappointed.

"I used to make them more often, but I can't now." They paused to order food, Saiki just settled on an appetizer she thought would be quick. "Hey and I don't think our styles are that close! He's clearly way faster and better than me."

"You can't deny your styles aren't similar." He countered.

"I played him and our rhythms felt completely different." She scratched her head feeling weird discussing basketball with someone she was probably going to face again in the future. "I don't know, I have to think about my moves before, he just executes and reacts."

"Eh? Kise and Saiki? I never thought I'd see this." Of flipping course Aomine would show up in the middle of this holding a takeout box. Of flipping course he would be standing there in a lose white tank top that showed off all of his arms. Of flipping course.

"Aominecchi! It's been so long!" Kise looked very excited to see his old teammate. "We were discussing your next match!"

"It's not even going to be a match." Aomine sighed. "They can't beat me." Kise looked upset.

"Don't be too sure of yourself." Saiki challenged. The odds weren't in their favor to win, but it didn't mean the game was going to be a complete blow out. It could still be close.

"Kagami isn't even close to challenging me. He's not even entertainment." Saiki was about to throw her water at him. This attitude was really getting old.

"I can't wait for you to lose." She countered.

"You already tried and failed miserably." Aomine rolled his eyes and seemed completely disinterested in the conversation. "I was hardly even trying." Saiki was gripping her chair so hard her knuckles were white. What was his problem today?

"You know what? Fuck off. Like hell am I teaching you field hockey."

"I knew you'd quit again anyway." Saiki's eyes went wide at the low jab. That little shit. Saiki was seconds away from pushing her seat out to face Aomine but Kise intervened.

"Oh it looks like our food is here." He gave an awkward laugh trying to defuse the situation.

"Tch enjoy." Aomine muttered walking away.

The waitress put their food down and Saiki was still fuming. She understood that he was good, but that didn't give him the right to be an asshole. There was absolutely no reason for him to be like that.

"He used to be different." Kise frowned. Saiki looked up at him with a puzzled look. "He truly loved basketball and playing it. I remember when he actually smiled when playing." He stared off in the distance as if he was lost in a memory. "Ah anyway, you were going to teach Aominecchi field hockey?" He changed the subject putting a smile back on his face.

"Yea, I don't even get why he would want to learn it." She pushed the food around on her plate, obviously still angry.

"Hmm," Kise wondered while eating. "Weren't you supposed to be the best field hockey player in Japan or something?"

"I don't know about best-"

"Awh don't be modest." Kise cut her off. "You were the best field hockey player, no one could beat you."

"I'm sure someone could have beaten me, I just never played them." Saiki wasn't catching on to what he was saying. The waitress dropped off the check and Saiki reached for it to see how much she owed, but Kise was faster.

"What kind of guy would I be if I let you pay." Kise was being his charming self and Saiki was not having it.

"Yea but then it'll look like-"

"Two people talking about basketball." Kise put cash down on the table and started to get up and Saiki gave up. The whole time they were there people were trying to sneak pictures of the two. No matter how hard Saiki tried not to notice it was kind of hard not to. Especially when they left the flash on.

"Good luck at your game Saikicchi!" Kise said before they parted ways. Saiki held in a groan when he used his signature nickname.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:  
><strong>For one of my classes I had to do a three day "Social Media Blackout" so I went back and tried to edit the past chapters, so hopefully I got out some spelling and grammar problems.

I can't believe that people actually read this so I hope you enjoyed the chapter and thank you for reading so far!


	10. Chapter 10

Seirin was in the locker room preparing for the first game in the Championship League. They were going up against Touou. All day Saiki had been filled with excitement. She was amazed she even made it through the school day and actually did work.

"It's almost time. Is everyone ready?" Riko was giving a pregame speech to the team. "Only three out of the four schools will be going to the Inter-High! Just like Koganei-kun said, it doesn't seem difficult at first glance, however," Mitobe and Izuki grabbed a surprised Koganei's arms to hold him back as Riko hit him with her paper fan. "If you think we can lose one because it's a league game, we're finished."

"Why me?" Koganei asked in the corner holding his cheek.

"It comes down to now! We will win this game! Seirin, fight!" The team was pumped for the game. All of the negative thoughts from earlier in the week were washed away. Saiki had full confidence in her teammates.

They walked out to the bench and put their stuff down. They were getting closer and closer to showing Aomine he could lose.

"Uh, where's Aomine?" Saiki looked over to see Kagami ask one of the Touou players. She scanned through the team. The bluenette was nowhere to be seen. _Are you kidding me?! _

"That self-centered bastard is running late." The teammate answered.

"Sorry. We're actually in a bind without him, too." Saiki saw someone with glasses answer. That must have been Imayoshi. She remembered Daisuke's warning about him. _"He'll really piss you off. He's a pro at reading people, not someone you want to play poker with." _A wave of uneasiness ran through her. "I guess you could call us the opening act. Go easy on us." Something wasn't right. He turned his attention over to Saiki. "Susa look, it's Saiki-senpai's baby sister look how adorable she is." Saiki thought she was going to pop a vein in her head. She was only about an inch and a half shorter than this guy and cute was hardly a word anyone ever used to describe her. "Do tell your brother Touou says hello."

"Yea, no problem." She turning away from their captain, still trying to conceal her anger.

Hyuga, Izuki, Mitobe, Kagami, and Kuroko walked out on the court to get ready for the tipoff. Saiki sat next to Riko still feeling wrong. There had to be a catch. Aomine couldn't carry the whole team, could he?

Touou won the tip off, Imayoshi made his way down the court with the ball, and Seirin struggled to match their speed. Hyuga got in front of him and managed to stop him. Imayoshi didn't miss a beat; he passed the ball behind him to who she assumed was their shooting guard. She heard him call out "sorry" before getting a three. Daisuke hadn't mentioned him, he must have been a new player.

This team was undeniably strong. Even without Aomine, they were able to get ahead of Seirin. Every part of their lineup was good, and to think one of them out there wasn't normally a starting player either. But Saiki noticed something that she remembered Daisuke mentioning while he was in his last year of Touou. There was a lack of teamwork. Everything was one on one. They were the foil to Seirin's emphasized team play.

Saiki heard Furihata read out Touou's scores from the premlins and the pit in her stomach came back when she heard they were all 100-point games.

"Yes. They're the opposite of Seiho." Riko pointed out next to her. "An offensive team."

Saiki watched as Seirin struggled to stay alive in the game. Not only was Touou's offense strong but their defense was as well. As the game dragged on their defense began picking up their movements more easily, even the ones they hadn't used in the game yet.

"We must have been researched by that girl." Riko looked off angrily to the other team's bench. They should have known. "Momoi is an information gathering specialist. She's an intelligence agent."

"She's good, she even spoke to me about my field hockey career when we first met." Saiki watched as their blond center knocked away Mitobe's hook shot before he even knew what was happening.

"This isn't good, is it? We have to do something." Kawahara said.

"There's no need! We'll keep playing like this." Riko answered. "No matter how accurate their information, it's from the past. Humans grow. Don't act like you understand when you don't even realize that!" Riko was still confident in her players.

Saiki watched in shock as Hyuga used a new play and was easily stopped. They weren't even fazed by the change. There was no way that they could know all the plays, but they did. The unsettled feeling still hadn't left her from the beginning of the game.

"You're naive, girl." Riko leaned in. Hyuga got the ball again and went for the drive. "They don't know what's coming next." Kuroko set up a screen behind their shooting guard. Saiki had completely forgotten about the player, like everyone else. "Not even with a women's intuition." Hyuga shot the ball and Kagami slammed it into the hoop. Seirin was still alive. They still had their first year duo.

"The more data you have, the more accurate it is. She's been researching the second-years for a whole extra year." Riko told her players during the break in between the first and second quarters. "However, there's considerable less information about you two, Kuroko-kun's hard to predict and Kagami-kun is still developing. If there's anyone who can counter Momoi, it's you two."

"Okay, it's up to you guys!" Hyuga told Kuroko and Kagami.

"Give them hell, rookies!"

Seirin started the 2nd quarter strong. Izuki passed the ball to Kuroko who pushed the ball down to Kagami. Touou even tried to use two players to block him in the air, but they stood no chance against Kagami's jumps. The bench erupted cheering for Kagami.

"This is an emergency!" Riko called out as she noticed something. "Saiki-san, get in as soon as possible!" Saiki was taken off guard, what was wrong? Then she noticed the way Kagami was running. It was his leg again.

"Kagami, change!" She called out to him.

"What? Why me?" Of course getting him off the court was going to be difficult. "We're just getting started.

"Go get your ankle wrapped, Riko noticed." She patted him on the shoulder. She heard the crowd complain when they subbed off their best player for a girl. She took a breath out and ignored them.

Saiki entered the game and kept up with the already warmed up other players. There wasn't much she could do to help Mitobe get the rebounds though. Their center and small forward were bigger than her and could easily get the rebounds.

The ball was settled on offense and Saiki tried to find away passed her defense. She expected to be underestimated at least a little bit like the rest of their games before, but Touou didn't take any chances. She had lost her small advantage. The defender pressured in close to her left rib while she kept the ball behind her with her right hand. She switched to dribble with her left hand and shield with her right side and she realized what they were doing. They were pressuring her old injury since they knew it would force her to an uncomfortable position. _Dammit_. She passed the ball back out to Izuki who tried to start a play but the ball ended up being stolen by Imayoshi.

They were back on offense and Saiki was taking the ball down the court, which let Hyuga and Izuki get settled and gave them the ability to start plays more easily. She ran up to her defender and used a trick she had been practicing. There was a low chance that it would actually work when Aomine is in so she might as well try it now. She used a variation of it at the Seiho game so she knew there was the possibility they would be able to stop the trick but there was still a chance she could be quicker.

Saiki let go of the ball and flicked her wrist so the ball bounced to the right, next to the defender. She cut to the left and got around the defender who was caught off guard seeing that she left the ball unattended. Once it hit the ground, it spun to the left back to her when she was past her defender. She was successfully around her defender and fired a simple jump shot that went in.

Saiki had little time to celebrate before the buzzer sounded a member change. Kagami was ready to come back in. She turned to come off the court and her heart dropped. Aomine was next to Kagami with his arm around him. Touou's ace was here and they weren't even ahead. Touou had 10 points on them. Saiki was frozen, as was everyone else.

"You're finally here?" Imayoshi called out from the court. "Hurry up and get ready so you can play!"

"What? But you're winning." Aomine complained. Saiki couldn't believe he was complaining about going in. "There's only one minute left in the second quarter, anyway."

"No, you have to play." The coach told him.

"Fine." Aomine threw his stuff down on the bench and entered the match. "Nice trick." He said as they passed on the court. Saiki walked past him not acknowledging his presence, even though it was overwhelmingly strong. She was still mad at him from earlier.

"Saiki-san, are you okay?" Furihata asked as she sat on the bench. She hadn't noticed but she was scowling as she sat.

"Huh, yea. He's just a jerk." No one asked a follow up question.

Saiki watched the first minute and recognized the iso Touou was making. It was a play they had done many times in lacrosse while she was in middle school in America. They were so simple to create, everyone slowly cut away from the ball dragging their defenders with them. With this iso, Kagami would be forced into a one on one if Aomine got the ball, a one on one Kagami would likely lose.

Aomine did a few crossovers and disappeared. No one could comprehend what was happening. Hyuga stepped up to block him but all Aomine had to do was a simple roll dodge and was gone. But it gave Kagami enough time to jump up and block Aomine's dunk. He was able to redeem himself after he had been beat.

Seirin went for the fast break, but Touou's defense was quicker to get back. They weren't stopping though. Izuki passed the ball to Kuroko used his ignite pass to get the ball to Kagami under the net. Saiki really thought he was going to make it, but Aomine was still able to return the block.

It wasn't even a minute of play and everyone was in shock by Aomine's playing. Being on the bench Saiki was able to be in complete awe of his play. If only he wasn't such an ass, she might be able to appreciate it more.

"Good work in the first half." Riko said once they were settled in the locker room. "I made you these so we can make a comeback in the second! They'll replenish you energy!" She held out lemons in honey. Full, unsliced lemons in honey.

"Slice them, we're always telling you to slice them!" Hyuga told their coach. Everyone was disappointed as they looked at the "snack."

"I washed them, so you can eat the skin. And you'll be able to eat lots!" Riko may have been ranked high in the school standings, but she could be an idiot too sometimes.

"Mitobe, do you have any?" The point guard asked. Mitobe, the resident chief. He nodded and pulled out sliced lemons in honey.

"Mitobe, I'm so glad you're on this team." Hyuga told him as he ate a lemon. Yea sliced lemons were much better.

"Kuroko, do you want any." Kagami turned around asking the shorter boy.

"No, I'm good." There was something off about his answer.

"Kuroko-kun, you played the whole first quarter, so I'm taking you out for a bit. You have to replenish your nutrients." This meant Saiki was probably going in. Part of her dreaded facing the team now that Aomine was there, but there was still the part of her determined to beat him.

"Please let me keep playing during the second half." He took everyone off guard. He didn't usually request to stay in a play. Saiki realized it was probably because of Aomine. Ever since he came he had changed.

"Aomine will be tough without Kuroko. Can we even manage it?" Hyuga asked the coach.

"Two quarters back to back," Riko was worried.

"Kuroko, your misdirection won't work throughout a whole game, right?" Hyuga asked.

"I don't think we should do it." Izuki agreed with the captain. "I've been watching with my eagle eye, but your effectiveness has already dropped off quite a bit. You should sit out for a while."

"I can do it." Kuroko spoke back. "No, I _will_ do it. I will do anything to beat Aomine-kun." Saiki worried for Kuroko. Playing emotionally like that, it could be good or bad.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but" Hyuga started.

"Coach could I use one of those?" He grabbed one of the unsliced lemons and shoved it in Kuroko's mouth. "Just eat those on the bench, you idiot. You're the one who said you can't play basketball by yourself! Leave it to us."

"Yes. We'll take out Kuroko-kun for a little bit during the second half. Our battle will begin in the fourth quarter!" Riko announced. Saiki's stomach flipped. She was going in. "But it's meaningless if we pass the point of no return. Be ready to play any time in case we get close. Have some lemons. Their inside is especially strong. We'll put Saiki-san in during the third quarter and if we have to adjust for height, Tsuchida-kun will go in. Hyuga-kun and Izuki-kun, keep doing what you did in the first half. Keep marks on mushroom, number 9 and glasses number 5. The biggest problem is Aomine, but there's only one guy who can handle him. Kagami-kun, we're counting on you!"

"Got it." Kagami answered.

"Let's go Seirin! Fight"

"Yea!"

They were back on the court and Saiki tried to mentally prepare herself for what was going to happen. She had experienced Aomine's play one on one, and Touou's play, but not combined. It was going to be a hard time.

"He's here." Everyone looked over to Aomine walking over to the Touou bench with a towel over his head. He was warmed up and taking this game seriously. Saiki felt herself tense up. She saw Kagami approach Aomine with a smirk on his face. He was possibly the only one who wasn't afraid of him in some sense.

The third quarter started and both teams were playing hard. Saiki kept up with the pace and did all she could to do her part on defense. There wasn't much she could do though, the ball kept finding its way to Aomine. Everything was up to Kagami.

Aomine effortlessly cut passed the red head. Saiki shifted over to attempt to block the oncoming storm that was Aomine. Saiki used all of her strength to jump and try to block Aomine with Mitobe but it was useless. His agility and speed were better than before. They bought some time and Kagami was able to jump and try to block Aomine's shot behind, but of course Aomine was too quick and got the shot off before Kagami could reach.

Seirin went for the fast counter and Hyuga tossed Kagami the ball down the court. They were going to get the fast break.

"Slam it in Kagami!" Hyuga yelled.

If Aomine hadn't been on the court, Kagami would have made it in. But Aomine was able to make it back with his super speed and block the dunk.

"You think it's that easy to make a fast break?" Aomine challenged. "Enough. Honest basketball isn't for me."

Saiki got the ball on offense and got down low dribbling the ball so it barely came off the ground. She was already shorter than the defender and with her past field hockey experience she was able to get down even lower. She was able to draw in the defender and he reached for the low ball. Saiki quickly moved leaving the defender on the ground. Before she knew what was happening Aomine had shifted from Kagami and was now on her. She tried to go through her options in the few seconds she had to react but she couldn't think of anything. Saiki was forced out of the paint.

Her mind was reeling, looking for options and openings in his defense, but once she found one he was already there blocking it. No amount of crossover would work on him, even if she got him off balance just a little bit he was quick to recover. Any time she was able to break free he was back in front of her in a matter of seconds. Saiki realized at this point there was no getting passed him and passed the ball back to Izuki behind her back.

The game continued, though it wasn't really a game. It was mostly a continuous one on one between Aomine and Kagami. He was able to cross Kagami up with his crossovers and Kagami ended up on the ground. His ball handling was on a whole different level than Saiki's. Mitobe, Hyuga, and Saiki all jumped up to try and block Aomine, but he jumped right passed them, releasing the ball up in the air while he was behind the backboard, and it still went in. There's no way anyone else would be able to replicate that. It was impossible. He was impossible.

Saiki looked over to the bench to Riko who was thinking the same thing she was. They needed to add some height. Riko subbed her out for Tsuchida and Saiki returned to the bench.

"They're brutal." She said as she sat down. One of the first years passed her her water bottle. That was all she could say to describe the play. She realized there was no stopping Aomine. She didn't even know if they could do it with Kuroko on the court. His shots, they were completely unpredictable. Even in middle school when she could make some formless shots she didn't know if she could make some of the ones he was making.

Aomine rushed down the court and challenged Hyuga. He let the ball go to the left and moved to the right. Hyuga was caught off guard by the strange move and reached for the ball. Aomine would never be that sloppy though, he reached back for the ball and left Hyuga in the dust with his change of speed. Kagami stepped up to block the shot and Saiki gasped as she saw Aomine go into the fade away free form she had done against Kise. Kise must have recognized the move then.

Kagami continued to fight on against Aomine, but the result never changed. Aomine was unbeatable. He even shot the ball behind his back as Kagami fouled him. This was absolutely insane.

Aomine walked passed Seirin's bench. "Come on out, Tetsu." He challenged his former teammate. "Let's settle this." Kuroko only stared back.

"Kuroko-kun," Riko looked to her player.

"It's fine." He answered. "I've had plenty of time to rest. I'm going." Kuroko stood up with his uniform showing.

"Show me the strength of the new light and shadow."

Kuroko high-fived Tsuchida and entered the game. Saiki passed Tsuchida his water bottle that was by her feet. She knew he needed it.

Her heart raced as the game resumed. It was a show down between the two former teammates.

After Touou got a quick basket Kuroko used his powerful full court pass to get the ball to Kagami. Aomine wasted no time catching up. Kagami had drawn in the most powerful player so he passed it back to their captain. The first years on the bench prayed that the ball would go in, but the remaining second years and Riko knew there was no need to pray. After he made the three Hyuga turned back to the bench.

"Quit praying, first years. When I'm shooting get ready to celebrate!" He pointed toward the bench. It was already clutch time.

With Kuroko in, Seirin was able to make shots and come back. The gap was still there, but it looked like they could still stand a chance. There was still hope.

Kuroko used his ignite pass to Kagami and Saiki was getting excited for the upcoming dunk. But the play was suddenly stopped by Aomine who interrupted the pass. Everything was falling apart. The bench watched in horror as Aomine made it past five players.

It was then did Saiki truly realize the extent of his power, and the curse that it was. Kise said he used to love the sport, he used to smile while playing. And now there was no one to challenge him since he was too strong. It was the reason he didn't care. The reason he could claim the only one who could beat him, was himself. She realized he was lonely. Saiki wondered, if she had continued her field hockey career, would she have reached this level of apathy?

"Saiki-san, sub in for Kagami." Riko pulled her out of her thoughts and Saiki looked up at her coach. She was staring at Kagami's legs. _No, not again_. Saiki thought.

"Kagami-kun," Riko called out to the first year.

"Why again?! There's no problem with the taping!" He tried to stay on the court.

"Just get on the bench." She told him.

"I'm fine! Besides the game is still going! I can't leave now!"

"Just get on the bench!" Riko's voice was firmer and Kagami understood. He hobbled off the court and Saiki went on. She looked back at Kagami and felt sorry for him. He wanted so bad to be on the court and to show Aomine. Saiki pushed all the negative hopeless thoughts aside and she was going to play hard for Kagami. She was going to play with everything she had left.

Without Kagami there was a noticeable difference. As hard as Saiki tried she couldn't replace the red head. Saiki couldn't make impressive dunks or draw the attention away from Kuroko as much as they needed. Even if she had the best ball handling on the team, she couldn't get any shots to draw the attention away from Kuroko. Touou was getting shot after shot. There was no winning. If only she could make those formless shots again.

"It's over Tetsu, I win." Aomine told him.

"It's not over yet." Kuroko countered. "The possibility of victory is only 0% when all the players give up. No matter how impossible it may seem, I refuse to make it 0% myself. That's why I won't give up!" It was the turning point. Even if they couldn't win. There would be no giving up.

"Hey bench!" Hyuga called to the first years. "Show some spirit!" The bench started up with their defense chant and supported the players on the court. He turned back to the team. "Let's close the gap shot by shot. Keep running until the very end."

The last five minutes they played with everything they had. They never put their heads down and Saiki fought tooth and nail to get passed Aomine. Even after every steal Touou had, and every basket, they didn't stop. They were Seirin high school. They did not give up, even when the end score was 112 to 55.

Saiki didn't realize it at the time, but it was the first time she had lost. Even through middle school, her field hockey, basketball, and lacrosse teams, they won.

When the game ended she stood on the court and looked over at Aomine who looked back. Saiki couldn't help it, her face showed pity to her opponent. He turned away and so did Saiki. She told them they were going to have a good game. It was a slaughter.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **So yeaaap Touou vs. Seirin...I'm not really good with these author notes thingys...:D

But really thank you all for reading and thank you to everyone who favorite follows and reviews!


	11. Chapter 11

They were in the locker room after the game and no one spoke. Saiki sat staring at the floor.

"We still have two more games against Meisei and Seishinkan!" Riko told them "We don't have time to be sad!" Still no one spoke. Saiki heard her phone going off in her bag and grabbed it. It was her brother. She really didn't want to talk about the game but she didn't want to ignore her brother.

"Can I take this?" She looked over to Riko and pointed to the door. Riko nodded and Saiki walked out with her phone still buzzing. She waited a few moments before answering it.

"Hi." She answered solemnly.

"Hey Tsuba, ah, you don't sound good." Daisuke adjusted his voice when he realized what had most likely happened. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want."

"No, I probably should talk about it." Saiki kept walking. She couldn't stop replaying the game in her head anyway. "We, we lost." she said finally. "112 to 55." She felt her heart go up her throat. It was the first time she was really facing the score.

"Is he really that powerful?" Daisuke was in complete shock of the score.

"We lost our ace in the fourth quarter." Her voice was hardly above a whisper, she was afraid if she spoke any louder she would lose it. "I don't know if we could have won with him in, but it was a slaughter in the end, I felt useless." She confessed.

"Don't say that!" Her brother yelled at her through the phone. "Not every game can be perfect, you can never grow if you don't make mistakes! This is a chance for you to bounce back and come back stronger! You know where your weak points are and you just have to sharpen them." Saiki smiled as she pushed open the door to the outside and the fresh air hit her. She was thankful for her brother at that point.

"Thanks, Dai. I'm gonna go think now."

"Don't get too hung up on it, just have fun, bye." Saiki pressed the end button and held on to her phone. She took a breath and stood in the fresh air trying to sort through her thoughts. She heard someone else sigh a few feet away from her. She had to repress a yell when she realized it was Aomine sitting on the steps.

Her feelings were split. She wanted to so bad to be angry with him still. He just crushed their team while acting like an ass. But there he was, and he looked more upset than her own team. She knew she would regret this later. Saiki moved and sat next to Aomine, who didn't acknowledge her presence. "If you want to talk, I'll just sit here." She said quietly. He didn't take any notice of the ginger. He just stared ahead just as she thought he would.

A few minutes passed and he took a breath. "Some shit was bad mouthing Tetsu." Saiki was caught off guard. "I wanted to punch him." He let out a little laugh. He had completely destroyed Kuroko on the court, yet he was still willing to defend him. Then it hit Saiki. He actually had high hopes in this game because of Kuroko. He thought Kuroko and his partner might stand a chance and put up a fight. He still respected Kuroko's style somewhere in him.

"What's your deal?" He asked leaning back. Saiki couldn't hold back her laugh. Seriously?

"Some asshole just killed my team." She copied him leaning back. She didn't know why she was responding, she was supposed to be aggravated with him. Only a little while ago did his presence make her blood boil. But right now, he looked open. He didn't seem as closed off as he normally was.

"Oh really? I heard that asshole is quite the looker."

"Eh, I've seen better." Saiki didn't know what she was doing. The words were just coming out of her mouth.

"You sure? Apparently he's got abs of steel."

"Yea but he's also a jerk ganguro." She couldn't keep back the smile on her face. This was the Aomine she could talk to. The easygoing one who was a little less jerkish.

"Well I just played a team with a freak tall ginger girl." He said back.

"And how did that go?"

"It was a bit boring and the ginger had no boobs." Saiki rolled her eyes. Why was it so hard for people to understand that female athletes usually don't have boobs.

"I heard the ginger's going to be at Touou on Sunday at one with field hockey stuff." She started pushing herself up.

"Is that so?" Aomine looked up at her as she started to walk away.

"That's what I heard." Saiki said before pushing the door open. Yea she was probably going to regret that whole thing, but for now she was fine with it.

She walked through the halls looking for her team. No matter how much she wanted to dislike Aomine at times, she couldn't. Part of her understands his plight and she could relate to him. He just wanted an opponent he could play at full capacity. Though during field hockey she never got as desperate as he, she knew she was probably close.

"Hey, what happened to you?" Hyuga asked while he tossed her her bag in the hall. Saiki realized she was still smiling. Shit.

"One of my brothers just had good advice, that's all." She said almost too fast. The rest eyed her suspiciously for a second more but then they went back to walking. Everyone was still shaken from their defeat.

* * *

><p>Saiki wiped the sweat from her forehead after one of Riko's intense practices and headed to the girls locker room. It had only been one day since their massive defeat but they were already back to practicing. They had two more games in the Championship League and they intended on winning them.<p>

After she switched into her simple street clothes, jeans and a gray v-neck, she felt her phone vibrating. She pulled her phone out as she walked back out of the locker room and through the gym. Her lock screen was filled with one message repeated over and over again.

**From: **Aomine Daiki  
><em>Buy me food.<em>

When she unlocked her phone she could see exactly how many times he sent the message. 82. 82 flipping times. Her phone buzzed again, make that 83.

"Freaking idiot." She muttered under her breath.

"Are you okay, Saiki-san?" Kuroko appeared next to her. Saiki dropped her phone and grabbed her chest. She hadn't realized the shorter boy was walking next to her

"Jesus! Kuroko-kun, you scared me!" Saiki tried to catch her breath.

"Ah, sorry." He bent down and dropped down the phone she had dropped. It was times like she that she was grateful for her case. She could hear it vibrate again in his hand.

"Thanks." She said as Kuroko handed her the phone, which continued to vibrate. "And yea I'm fine, just someone being stupid." Then someone started calling her phone. Saiki was just about ready to find Aomine and chuck her phone at his head. But when she looked down on the screen it was some random number.

"Hello?" Confused, she answered the phone.

"What do you think you're doing dating Kise-san! How dare you date my model! You're not worthy of his love!" The voice sounded like it had to be a 12 year old girl or something and Saiki groaned. The Kise fan girls had been basically stalking her and sending her hate ever since Kise and her grabbed lunch to talk about basketball. This was the first call she had gotten on her cell phone though.

"Remind me to change my number." She told Kuroko who was still next to her.

* * *

><p>And so, here she was again, on her way to Touou with her field hockey stuff in tow. Saiki couldn't believe she actually agreed again to teach Aomine Daiki the basics of field hockey, even after he ruthlessly won over their team in the first game of the Championship League. She should be focusing on getting better at basketball and helping her team get stronger. Not teaching a lazy asshole field hockey.<p>

She thought she would get to the field hockey field unnoticed since she was wearing her brother's sweatshirt, but no. That would be too simple. Instead she bumped into a girl only an inch or two shorter than herself.

"Sorry." Saiki muttered hoping the bump would go unnoticed, but she wasn't Kuroko.

"Hey, aren't you that Seirin girl?" The other girl called out. Saiki turned to face the girl who had just spoken. She was wearing practice clothing and holding a basketball bag. Shit.

"You're the one who thinks she's too good for girl's basketball." People usually took her playing basketball at Seirin in two ways. They either look at her and think of feminism or girl power, or the think she is just a pretentious whore to put it nicely. Because god forbid she just wanted to play basketball for fun.

"Oh no, my school just doesn't have a girls team." Saiki smiled and turned to walk away.

"Why didn't you make one?" Saiki really didn't want to explain herself. It was a sport she enjoyed to play. Saiki kept walking but the girl bounced a basketball off her back.

"1 on 1." She called out. "First to 10."

"Fine." Saiki brought the ball back to the girl, clearly pissed off that she had actually thrown it at her.

They had been right by the outdoor court. Saiki put her field hockey stuff down and took of her sweatshirt, expecting at least a challenge. The girl was apparently Touou's girl's basketball club's Captain. She had to be good.

But the game left Saiki alone standing on the court dazed. That girl should have been good. Saiki should have sweat at least a little bit. But she was so slow. The game had ended in under 3 minutes. The Captain hadn't been able to get one basket. Every attempt she made Saiki could jump and block it. Saiki even resorted to slowing down her fast break to give her opponent a chance at coming back on defense, but it was useless. The Touou captain couldn't hold her back.

"I guess I was wrong about you." The captain told her after being humiliated in front of her team. "Good luck for the rest of your games."

"Yea, you too." Saiki was distant. She was realizing the gap between her and normal girl basketball players. She was on a whole different level compared to them. In Seirin's games, her jumps seemed average, and her speed and agility were just above average. There were plenty of guy players who were better. There was still a challenge for her. That one on one though. That one on one left her with a numbness she hadn't felt since field hockey.

"Good thing you play with guys." A voice pulled her out of her thoughts. The court had cleared and the Touou girls were all gone. Now Aomine was the only one there.

"You saw?" Saiki winced. The match was so one sided, she wanted to cringe.

"Yea." There was a tinge of sympathy in his voice. It was only slight, but it was there. "Come on, I came here for field hockey don't make me regret coming." Saiki shook her head and grabbed her stuff.

"Are you ever going to say why you even want to learn field hockey?" She passed him her spare stick

"This thing is so small." He said holding the stick up.

"It's it's a 38!" Saiki realized he wouldn't understand so she broke it down. "38 inches. That's the biggest stick size they make. You just have to deal with it." She dumped her stuff on the ground and grabbed two balls from the bag. "Did you at least read the rules I sent you."

"Eh?" She had texted him a link that said the basic rules of field hockey, but she should have expected him not to read it. She sighed.

"Fine then listen." She held up one of the balls. "This ball, can't touch you. Anything below the knees is a foul on you. Depending on the height it can be declared dangerous and that can be a foul." She grabbed her stick and hit it on the one Aomine was holding. "No senselessly smashing your stick into your opponents. It's hacking and it's bad." Saiki flipped her stick and showed him the flat side of the stick. "You can only hit the ball with this side of the stick. Hitting it with the rounded part is stupid and illegal. That should be it for the extreme basics." She stopped and thought for a few seconds. "Oh yea, and no boxing out if you're not moving with the ball, this isn't like basketball where you can stand still and shield the ball with your body."

"Well that's stupid."

"Well that's the rule." Saiki tossed the ball over to Aomine. "Copy me." She dropped her own ball and ran down the field with a close dribble. It was the easiest dribble on the turf since the ball was constantly connected to the stick. She had had to learn the dribble on bumping unpredictable grass, Aomine was lucky he was on turf. She welcomed the familiar ache in her thighs as she ran down to the fifty.

"My back hurts." Aomine complained when they reached the fifty.

"Bend your knees you idiot not your back!" Without warning she took off toward the end line. She looked back over her shoulder and wanted to laugh. Aomine was awkwardly hunched over with the stick keeping the ball out in front of him. "Your knees!" She called out to him.

When he got to the end line with her she decided to do the other dribble. "That was a controlled dribble. You use that when you have someone on you. If you have a fast break down the field or no one is on you, you can use a loose dribble. For that you just lightly tap it," She took off toward the fifty again lightly tapping the ball in front of her. This dribble was quicker than the previous one since the ball could come off the stick. She noticed Aomine's ball fly passed her when he hit it too hard. "A light tap!" she laughed. Aomine let out a frustrated groan as he chased after the ball.

Saiki watched Aomine as he dribbled back to the end line using the loose dribble. It looked better than the previous run but he still looked awkward. It was to be expected, he was going to a sport where being tall and big was a goal. In field hockey, being down low was the game.

"My thighs hurt." He complained. Saiki didn't pay attention, she was playing around with her ball doing random pulls and spins. "This is boring." He added when she didn't reply.

"You're the one who wanted to do it." Saiki replied without looking up from the ball.

"That was before I knew how boring it was." She looked up at Aomine who was lazily leaning on the stick with his signature bored expression. She couldn't believe he was actually a high school student and not a child.

"So go home then." Saiki knew there was no use arguing with him, he was going to do whatever he wanted regardless.

"Try and get passed me."

"Are you kidding me, all you know how to do is dribble the ball." She hadn't even properly taught him dodges not to mention block tackles or any defensive moves.

"Just try and get around me." He tossed the stick to the side and took a basketball defensive position. Saiki rolled her eyes and figured she might as well do it. She ran at him and spun to the left dragging the ball with her. She passed the ball through his feet and went to cut around him and catch the ball. Aomine hesitated for a second not following where the ball went, though he was able to get back in front of her with his inhuman speed.

Saiki continued to pull the ball, throwing in some fakes too. There was no thinking needed for her in field hockey. She effortlessly reacted to the space Aomine gave her and took away. Her movements in field hockey were so much quicker than basketball, this sport came so much easier to her since she had spent so much more time focused on it. Saiki felt so relaxed with the stick in her hand, there was no need to worry whether she would win or lose. She was going to win this.

When she realize her pulls weren't tripping him up as much as she would like she started to put the ball toward his feet. "Remember, the ball isn't supposed to touch your feet." She reminded him.

"This is cheap." She couldn't see his face but he sounded like he was really concentrating.

"This is professional fouling." She replied without missing a beat. Aomine finally couldn't stay upright and his legs got tangled in the speed of her movements. Saiki made it passed him and turned around to see Aomine sitting on the field.

"You should play like that in basketball." He said still sitting with his back to her. Saiki was taken off guard, she hadn't expected him to bring up her basketball. "You were too stiff when you played. You were relaxed just now."

"I uh, thanks?" Saiki didn't know how to respond to him, she didn't think he would actually give out advice.

"Did you ever lose?" Aomine fell back and was lying on the turf now. "In field hockey, I mean." He added. He knew for sure she had lost at least once in her life.

Saiki paused and thought back through the years. She quickly recapped her middle school field hockey career and her short high school one. Then it hit her. "No, I don't think I ever did." It was the first time she was really realizing it. No one had ever beaten her in field hockey.

She sat down next to Aomine and looked up at the clear blue sky not knowing what else to say.

"And you still quit." He said after awhile.

"And I still quit." Saiki debated on actually elaborating, he was possibly the one person who might understand. But would he actually care? She decided against the thought and kept up the wall that was between them. "Breaking a rib sucks."

"I think Satsuki actually knew the girl who hit you." Saiki couldn't help but laugh. "Anyway, I'm hungry, do you want to get food?" Saiki looked down at her watch and realized what time it was. She never did buy him food after all his text messages, which eventually breached 100. Instead she told him to shut up and do something productive.

"Crap, sorry I actually have plans." She was supposed to Skype with her brothers soon and she didn't want to miss that.

"Another date with Kise?"

"What!? No!" Saiki was shocked that he brought that up. "That wasn't even a date! It was two people talking about basketball." She repeated what Kise had said before.

"No need to get so defensive." Aomine started pushing himself up off the ground. "Another time then." He grabbed the stick he had thrown aside before and passed it to Saiki.

"If you want to practice on your own you might as well keep it, I don't really need it."

"I don't think field hockey is really my thing." She was about to yell at him then what was the point of this all, but she didn't. She knew the underlying point to it all, she just didn't want to admit it. She didn't want to point out that her and Aomine Daiki, the lazy jerk, could possibly be similar. So instead she rolled her eyes and watched as he left the field.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Yea Aomine's field hockey career is very short lived and Saiki's is still feeling the repercussions of going out to eat with a famous model.  
>Updates may slow down a bit after this week because I have lacrosse starting up but it shouldn't be too drastic or anything.<br>Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	12. Chapter 12

Before Saiki entered her apartment she grabbed the mail, which was filled as it had been for the past few days. They were all similar in content, "You're not worthy of Kise" "How could you beat his team?" "Who even are you?" There were a few though that showed support for this made up relationship, they were very few in number. These girls were crazy. When she got inside she tossed the letters on the counter in the ever growing pile of Kise's fangirl's hate mail. She intended on giving them to him one day.

Saiki grabbed her laptop and waited for it to turn on. She tapped impatiently, she needed a distraction from Aomine Daiki. Why did he seem so interesting to her. His mood swings left her head spinning and she should really just ignore his existence completely, but for some god forsaken reason he was always there. She really needed to sort these thoughts out one day. Saiki groaned and connected to skype. She figured she could study while she waited for her brothers to come online so she grabbed her books. Stat was so close to being done and she couldn't wait to be officially done with it. She couldn't comprehend how Riko could actually have an A in that class. Saiki was barely skating by with a B after pulling all nighters to study.

"Oi Yuzuki, grab me the pretzels first." She heard Daisuke before he appeared on the screen. Then there was what sounded like a bag of pretzels hitting someone, probably Daisuke "Jeez thanks." Both brothers appeared on the screen, Daisuke happily munching on some pretzels while Yuzuki shook his head. They had been staying at an apartment on campus that they shared with some of their team mates. She could see behind them was a door and the couch was behind them on the far left of the screen.

"Tsuba! Long time no see!" Daisuke exclaimed with his mouth full.

"Daisuke, don't speak with your mouth full." The older brother scolded him.

"I'm just happy to see our baby sister!"

"I see college life hasn't changed you two at all." Saiki laughed. They were completely the same.

"Yup, Yuzuki still can't talk to girls and they all love me. I'm a celebrity, I'm on tv!"

"We're both on tv you idiot and no one can tell us apart without our jersey's on

anyway." It was true, even in Japan they were often mistaken for twins. The main difference was that Yuzuki's inch over Daisuke.

"When are you making your tv debut?" Daisuke turned back to the camera.

"Ah we're still aiming for the inter-high, but I don't know." She looked away from the screen. The Touou game was still fresh in her mind. Kagami was also benched for the rest of the league due to his leg. "There's still the Winter Cup if all else fails.

"Just try to win a national tournament so Daisuke will be the only one who hasn't." Yuzuki deadpanned.

"Oi oi that's cruel!" Daisuke yelled at his brother. "Anyway, what have you been up to?" Daisuke had a sly grin on his face.

"Basketball?" Saiki said uncertainly, she didn't like her brother's grin.

"What about basketball players?" He held up a printed out picture of Saiki getting food with Kise. Her face paled

"Nooo! He stole me!" Saiki let her head drop to the table in embarrassment. She never thought they would hear of that whole thing.

"You let someone kidnap you?" Yuzuki had a disbelieving look on his face. Meanwhile Daisuke was yelling about having a sister who's dating a model in English. One of their roommates appeared and threw a pillow at him telling him to shut up.

"No dude, check it." Daisuke crawled over to the desk to grab the picture. "Our sister's dating a model, she's set for life!" The roommate took the candid photo.

"This guy looks more like a girl than your sister." He looked at it judgingly. "I thought your family was basketball crazy, he doesn't even look like he lifts." Kise's arms had been covered with his blazer, of course it looked like he didn't lift.

"He's actually one of the best high school basketball players in Japan." Yuzuki pointed out. Saiki looked up, saw him typing, and assumed he was looking up video's of Kise playing. She could hear cheering from the video. She could only imagine what the video was actually showing. Their teammates face was in complete shock.

"Hid he just, copy him?"

"He's not even the best," Saiki mentioned, "try playing against someone who never misses and their whole range is the court."

"Jesus, it's too late for this crap, I'm grabbing ice cream."

"Grab me some?" Daisuke's head popped up.

"No, eat your pretzels."

Yuzuki yawned. "We have finals so we really should get some sleep. Good luck for you for the rest of the Championship League."

"Yea, you'll kill it." Daisuke was back sitting next to his brother.

"Thanks, good luck with your finals."

"Oh yea, be careful with Kise, those celebrities are crazy." Daisuke warned.

"It's not a thing!" But her brothers ignored her and continued to say bye as they ended the call. Those buggers.

* * *

><p>Seirin never bounced back after the Touou game. Saiki tried to take Aomine's advice and play more relaxed, but she couldn't, not with all the pressure. She made stupid mistakes and lost control of the ball. Every mistake led to more pressure and she couldn't dig herself out of the hole. They came out of the Championship League 0-3, they didn't make it to inter-high.<p>

Saiki somehow managed to avoid Aomine. It wasn't like she was actually trying to, it just happened. After she switched her cell number, the Kise fangirls were unbearable, she never thought to tell him. She had only told her brothers and her teammates. Then there was the fact that she didn't have any free time with basketball practice and finals rapidly approaching. Riko had her on a rigorous studying regiment to pass stat with an A.

"Just cause you're playing this year doesn't mean you can slack off in school." She would tell her.

It wasn't like Summer would bring much of a relief. A few times during class Saiki looked over to Riko who seemed to be working hard on a practice schedule for the team to continue practicing in the Summer.

However, everything didn't seem bleak. At the end of their most recent practice, Riko mentioned something that made Saiki look forward to the coming practices. Kiyoshi was soon to be discharged out of the hospital. Maybe that was just who the team needed to help them bounce back from the Championship League.

"Uh, what's Teppei-san like?" One of the first years asked when they were walking back from practice. It was only natural for them to interested, they had never met him before.

"Huh? uuh," Hyuga thought for a second, "Teppei is, weird."

"What?"

"But I owe him, Saiki does too. He's the one who got us to play basketball."

"To think, I could have just been a manager." Saiki put her hands behind her head and looked away melodramatically.

"Yeah, but he's, the man who created the Seirin High School basketball team." Hyuga told the underclassmen. They didn't ask anymore questions but Saiki was sure they still had some. The description of "weird" didn't fully encompass Kiyoshi, but it was the closest word they could get.

Saiki parted from the group to get to take the bus she needed to get home. As she left Hyuga was complaining how Kagami didn't respect his authority as his senior.

* * *

><p>A week had past since that whole ordeal and Kagami was finally able to practice after two weeks rest. Though Hyuga didn't seem too happy to see the first year.<p>

"Kagami, you bastard." Hyuga turned around when he saw him. "You really didn't show up after that." He was referencing the phone call he had made the previous week. Saiki watched next to Kuroko, though she was unaware he was next to her, and watched it all unfold.

"Sorry." Kagami bowed to the senior catching everyone off guard.

"If you're going to apologize, just come in the first place."

Before that conversation could go anywhere else, someone else jogged into the gym. "Hey," Saiki looked over and Kiyoshi was standing, in his uniform. Yup, still weirdish. "Ah looks like I we finally get to practice together Saiki-san!"

"Yea, it's only took a year and a half." Saiki laughed but Hyuga wasn't taking any of Kiyoshi's crap.

"Why are you wearing your uniform?" He loosely grabbed Kiyoshi's collar.

"I got excited about coming to practice again." He was smiling not showing any sign that he was aware of Hyuga's anger, even when Hyuga started shaking him.

"Are you serious? Are you?"

"Yea."

"Are you?" It hadn't even felt like the past year had happened to Saiki. To her, it felt like they were picking off exactly where they were before the previous Championship League. At that moment it felt like Kiyoshi never left and Hyuga never stopped being bothered by him.

"I've been in the hospital since last summer." Kiyoshi told the underclassmen after he changed into normal practice clothing. "Because of my surgery and rehab, I've been taking a break. Kiyoshi Teppei, 193 centimeters 81 kilos. My position is center. Nice to meet you." The first years looked to him in shock.

"Teppei, are you sure you're okay now?" Riko asked next to him.

"Yea! I'm completely healed. I've forgotten some stuff, but I wasn't doing nothing in the hospital."

"Did you learn something?" Izuki asked.

"Yea, card games." And there went any intensity that was in the air. "The old man sharing my room taught me.

"So?" Koganei asked, still hoping that this was actually going to relate to basketball.

"It's fun."

"That's got nothing to do with basketball!" Hyuga and Izuki yelled in unison.

"Also one more thing. I'm putting my undefeated three year high school career on the line. I'm serious about doing this. My goal is of course. Where is it?"

"Huh?"

"Where's the Inter-High being held?" Saiki had to refrain from smacking herself in the head. Since Kiyoshi was oblivious to what was happening, Saiki felt herself dying from second hand embarrassment. He was a nice guy and all, he was just clueless at times.

"It changes every year, and we already lost! We've got our sights set on the Winter Cup now!" Izuki answered.

"Where is that this year?"

"In Tokyo, every year!" Hyuga yelled.

"This is the guy who created the Seirin basketball team..." The first years couldn't believe how much of an airhead Kiyoshi was.

"Anyway, if you're going to climb a mountain, you've got to aim for the top. But let's not forget to enjoy the scenery." At least he could still give decent advice.

The practiced as they normally did, and having Kiyoshi back seemed normal for her. Though, Saiki didn't really like that she had to keep fixing her hair from the times that Kiyoshi patted her head and messed it up. She would scold him a bit for messing it up and he would answer "It's just nice to see you actually practicing with the team." She was surprised he hadn't actually brought up the one on one match they still had to do.

Kagami was off during the practice though. Izuki pointed out he was playing as he did during the first weeks of tryouts. He was playing selfishly and by himself.

"Hey, Kagami-kun." Kiyoshi called out to him. "I want to play soon too, but I don't think it's fair for me to ask to play just because I'm an upperclassman. So, why don't we play some one on one for the starting position?"

"He hasn't changed." Hyuga mentioned on the side. "This is why I can't stand the guy. He always plays hard, is obsessed with basketball, acts stupid, and he's always up to something."

The rest of the team watched as Kyoshi started with the ball. It seemed as though he was going to get a quick layup but Kagami rushed back to defend the rim with one of his high jumps. Kagami had possession of the ball next and did a spin dodge around Kyoshi leaving the hoop open to him. As Kyoshi rushed back to defense, Kagami quickly adjusted to a double clutch to snag the first basket.

"That's amazing," Furihata stated. "He dunked from behind. Kagami wins!"

"You got me. I lost." Kyoshi was still smiling and put his hand on Kagami's shoulder. "Just like I promised, you can start." Kagami only replied with a brisk ok and left the gym.

"What were you thinking, Kyoshi?" Izuki asked, Kyoshi turned around to face him.

"He really is strong." Was all he said. Riko appeared behind him, hitting him with her paper fan she abused everyone with.

"And what are we going to do without you?"

"I can't help it." Kyoshi scratched the back of his head. "Saying I haven't been playing isn't much of an excuse. This is the best I can do."

"That's not your best. You're acting too stupid. Look at your feet!" Hyuga directed everyone's attention to Kyoshi's feet where part of the problem was. "Those are indoor shoes, you moron!" Saiki smacked her face into her palm when the realization hit. "Sheesh. Don't tell me you lost on purpose." Hyuga asked.

"Oh crap,"

" It wasn't on purpose?!" Saiki still hadn't removed her face from her palm. As much as she loved Kyoshi this was painful.

"Please at least wear basketball shoes when you're actually in shape for our one on one." Saiki said finally showing her face.

"Of course I will." He shade messing up her hair with his huge hand. "Learning from mistakes are a part of life." Saiki resisted face palming again, how do you wear indoor shoes for basketball practice.

"Alright I guess practice can end hear." Riko announced. "Everyone bring correct footwear tomorrow, or else we run." Riko was smiling and using her sweet voice, which was one of the most terrifying things.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** Plot twist I actually update after 3 months :O. I forgot how much time lacrosse actually takes up, and then there was college stuff and prom stuff and general me neglecting to write but yea. I'm going to attempt to update more regularly but I don't want to make promises, I have to try and figure out where I'm going with this plot cause I don't really plan things out like a smart person and I don't want to just follow the manga/anime plot line cause that get's boring...anyway thanks for reading and stuff and hopefully I'll update soon.


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